What is Left When All is Said and Done
by Insper A. Shen
Summary: Post HBP, major spoilers. Hermione is determined to figure out why Dumbledore trusted Snape. Starts immediately after the end of HBP. COMPLETE!
1. Prologues

Prologues

He closed the door behind him and fell back heavily against it. His body slid, limp and lifelessly, into an inky pool of robes. There was no movement for several more minutes, and silence was sustained until the barest of sobs could be heard emanating from the crumpled mass. Somewhere, Severus Snape was crying.

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"Before we go," said Hermione cautiously, as she noticed the tension in Harry's body, "Harry, I don't mean to upset you again, but we need to recover Snape's textbook."

"Hermione, enough about Snape —" started Ron.

"No, she's right. There might be something in there, something I've missed," said Harry determinedly. "He's not going to catch me unawares again."

"But we have to be quick," interjected Hermione, before Harry could dwell in his hatred. "The Hogwarts Express is leaving in less than an hour." The trio quickly made their way to the seventh floor where they paced back and forth three times thinking, "I need the room where the Half-Blood Prince's Potions textbook is hidden." The door appeared and they entered.

"Wow," exclaimed Ron as he saw the enormity of the room and the multitude of items in it. Hermione had paused beside him in awe as well. Harry, having already seen this place walked straight ahead with a single purpose, saying, "This way." His two friends followed him further in. He noticed that the Vanishing Cabinet that the Death Eaters had used to enter Hogwarts was gone, impounded by the Aurors, he surmised. Finally, he brought them to the cupboard with the tiara-ed bust sitting upon it. It was there that his resolve failed him. All of a sudden, he couldn't bear to see the book again.

"It's in there," he said and pointed at the acid-burned doors. Stepping forward, Hermione opened the cupboard and retrieved the copy of _Advanced Potion-Making_ from behind the cage. She held it carefully in both hands and examined it at arm's length before cradling it close to her chest.

"All right, Harry, we can go now," she said while she put one hand on his shoulder. The tension left his body then, and he led them back out of the Room of Requirement. Since Ron was also ahead of her, neither of them noticed the small bottle that she stealthily picked up from the heap of many and slipped into her pocket on their way out.


	2. Aparecium

Chapter 1

Sitting on the Hogwarts Express, Hermione rested her chin on her hand and stared out the window. The carriage was quiet as Harry, Ron, and Ginny were currently napping, lulled to sleep by the dull vibrations of the train. In their sleep, Ginny, who was sitting next to Harry, had leaned over so that her head was resting on his shoulder, and Harry, in turn was resting his head protectively on hers. Ron was by her side, and at one point had been leaning towards, but a particularly nasty bump on the tracks had repositioned him so that he was now leaning against the wall opposite her and snoring slightly with his mouth agape. Not that she minded.

While she was just as exhausted as the other three, there were too many thoughts floating through her head, and she hadn't had enough time to herself these last few days to thoroughly process them. Every morning since _that_ night she had woken up with a dull, leaden feeling in the depths of her soul. And every morning she would once again realize that yes, Dumbledore was truly dead, and Snape had been the one to kill him. Although it seemed much easier for Harry and Ron to accept the latter, for her, it was just as hard as the former. There were few constants in Hermione Granger's life, but for the last five years, one of them had been that Professor Snape, the greasy bastard, was one of the good guys. He had proven it when he had risked his reputation and shown the former Minister of Magic his Dark Mark. He had proven it a year before that when he had risked his own life by protecting them from Remus in werewolf form, even though she had just earlier that night cast the stunning spell on him. But most important of all, he had somehow proven his redemption to Dumbledore.

And _that_ was what was plaguing Hermione's mind. What was it that Snape had done or said to have so fooled Dumbledore into believing in him so implicitly? How could such a great man have been so mistaken? And, her pride asked herself subconsciously, how could _she_ have been so deceived?

There was another part of her—a part that she kept well hidden from Harry—that still fostered a glimmer of hope that both men had not been truly lost. A hope that perhaps one of them had been a Polyjuiced imposter. Or that Snape had been under the Imperius curse. Or that there was still some plot that the two of them had figured out that would account for this great rip in her reality. But being the practical girl that she was, Hermione suppressed those ideas, for now.

While she continued to stare out into the foggy landscape that blurred past her, her free hand had strayed to her book bag, and she was idly tracing the outline of the newest collection to her library. A loud snore from Ron jolted her out of her reverie and also drew her attention to what she was doing. _The book, _his_ book_. So far it was her only possible lead to the mystery of the triple agent.

After double-checking that the other three were still safely ensconced in sleep's sweet embrace, she carefully and silently eased the textbook out of her bag. How ironic that the self-named "Half-Blood Prince", whom Harry had defended so vehemently, would turn out to be Snape. She really should have been able to figure it out earlier. Who else would have been able to deduce all those tips to producing perfect potions? Or for that matter, been able to create those sinister hexes and curses?

Since she had never had the chance before to peruse it at leisure before, she now took the time to pore over the pages. After just a few, she was able to see just what a genius Severus Snape had been at seventeen. While she was slightly irked that he had been better than she currently was at Potions, she could not help but respect him. _Clever, yet evil_, she reminded herself.

Towards the end of the book, she noticed one page that looked different from the others. While the previous pages had been crammed with the black-inked notations, there were areas of the parchment here that were clear of any writing. Her pulse quickened as she reached for her wand. She remembered that _Specialis Revelio_ had produced no results but that had been cast on the book as a whole to see if it was anything more than just a book. The spell she would cast now would reveal anything written in invisible ink. With three quick taps and a quietly whispered, "_Aparecium_," the words that she suspected would be there appeared. What she didn't expect, though, was that they would be in a different handwriting.

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Author's Notes:

Sorry, another short chapter. But isn't it much more fun to end with a little cliffhanger?

And no beta as of yet (any volunteers?), so please let me know if there are any errors or if something doesn't make sense. Hopefully I'm not stretching the characters too far.

A great big thanks for all the reviews so far. Just to forewarn those who are HG/SS shippers (of which I count myself as one of), it's probably going to take a while for anything romantic to start up between those two. Heck, it's probably going to be a while until we even see our favorite professor again. And before that happens, I have a feeling something else is going be revealed…but I don't think it will be that surprising to anyone who's paid attention to Slughorn's sycophantic praises and some of JKR's comments about the seventh book.

Oh yeah, and I've made a few slight changes to the prologues since I first published them, so you might want to reread it just in case you read one of the previous versions.

For more thoughts, and before the author's notes become longer than the chapter itself, please check out my LJ (link found on my profile page).


	3. Compartment C

Chapter 2

Just then, the carriage door slid open, and the scared little face of a second-year looked in. Hermione hastily shut the book and jumped out of the seat towards the boy.

"Can I help you?" she asked quickly but quietly, hoping that the others wouldn't wake. The student gulped and looked at the still sleeping faces of Harry, Ginny, and Ron.

"I'm supposed to give these to Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, and Hermione Granger," he said, thrusting three rolled scrolls into her hands. Before she could reply, the boy had retreated and was already headed back from whence he came. Hermione looked at the violet ribbon-bound scrolls in her hand and was not surprised to recognize their names written in Professor Slughorn's handwriting. She untied and unrolled the one addressed to her.

_Hermione,_

_ I would be delighted if you could join me for a spot of lunch in Compartment C._

_ Sincerely,_

_ Professor H. E. F. Slughorn_

Hermione sighed. Was it still possible that after all that had happened, Professor Slughorn was still running his Slug Club? Then she realized why they had received the inviations. Although he was currently riding this train as part of _their_ protection, once it arrived in London, he would no longer be under the protection of Hogwarts. And with no Dumbledore to hide behind anymore, right now his best bet in terms of safety was to ingratiate himself with the _Chosen One_ and his friends. Hermione couldn't decide whether to feel sorry for Ron or envy him because he hadn't been among the invitees.

"Mmm…. What was that about?" Ginny had woken up, which in turn woke Harry up. He seemed a bit embarrassed for having found Ginny tucked up against him, especially given the current status of their relationship. Ginny, however, didn't seem to mind, and stayed where she was. Hermione motioned for them to stay quiet and pointed at Ron to indicate why. She then showed them the scrolls.

"What's that?" Ginny whispered as she rubbed her eyes.

"Another invitation from Slughorn."

"You can't be serious," began Harry but was cut off by Hermione.

"Look," she addressed her friends, "do you mind if go by myself?

"You _want_ to go?" asked Harry incredulously.

"I…have something I need to speak to him about," said Hermione, cautiously. An idea was starting to germinate in her mind.

"Are you sure?" asked Ginny, who seemed quite content to stay in her present position.

"I'm sure. You two stay here. I'll make your apologies to him."

"You don't have to make any for me. Just tell him he can stick his invitation…."

"And don't tell Ron about this, okay?" finished Hermione, ignoring Harry's comment. "I don't want him feeling left out."

Hermione tried to casually slip the copy of _Advanced Potion-Making_ into her book bag and slipped out into the passageway. Her trip to compartment C was uneventful as no one else was walking around. Most of the carriages that she glimpsed into contained also-sleeping passengers. The strain from the past few days and the funeral had clearly caught up with everyone.

When she reached her destination, it looked as if Professor Slughorn had somehow appropriated half the Hogwarts house elves in order to make the buffet spread she found in front of her. There were heaping plates of roast beef, shepherd's pie, Cornish pasties, steak and kidney pudding, and for dessert, custard tart, treacle tart, and chocolate éclairs. She suddenly knew how Hansel and Gretel must have felt, and her mouth watered involuntarily.

"Hermione, m'dear!" exclaimed the professor. "Welcome, welcome. So glad you could make it. But where are Harry and Ginny?"

"They couldn't come, sir." Despite being the Slytherin Head of House, Slughorn wasn't able to hide the disappointment on his face.

"Oh, that won't do at all. They must come and partake of some of this marvelous food." He gestured towards the tray that threatened to tip over underneath all the dishes it held. "Perhaps you could go back and let them know? I won't take no for an answer."

"Professor Slughorn, sir, I actually wanted to speak to you privately."

"Ahem…I see." The professor stroked his mustache as he calculated the merits of acquiescing to her request. He seemed to come to a decision and gestured to the seat across from him. "Very well then, what may I do for you, m'dear?"

"It's regarding Professor Snape," she said, as she approached him and sat down.

"_Ex_-Professor Snape. You must know he is no longer a teacher at Hogwarts," said Slughorn in trying to distance himself from his fellow Slytherin.

"Yes, sir. What I meant to say was, you were his Head of House and Potions professor…."

"Yes, but you can hardly expect that I had any influence over him. Why, I barely even know who he was. That Severus was always such a sullen and withdrawn little boy. I supposed it's true when they say it's the quiet ones you must watch out for."

"But Professor, surely you must have taken some notice of him. After all, wasn't he a brilliant student in Potions?"

"Brilliant? I'd say he was closer to average than brilliant. Half the time he'd be trying his own version of the recipe and messing it all up. No, m'dear, do you know who was the brilliant one of that year? Harry's own mother, Lily Evans. She could've been a Potions Mistress if only she had lived. I would've been more than happy to recommend her." At this point Slughorn looked genuinely sad.

"I see. Thank you, Professor Slughorn." She had gotten all the information she was looking for. A look of panic flashed across his face as she stood up.

"You're not going so soon are you? Me and my bad manners, I haven't even offered you any food…."

"It's all right, Professor. I'm not hungry."

"Well, you must take something back for the others then. Here," he said pointing his wand at the food and packaging it up. "Bring this back to Harry, and make sure you let him know who it's from."

"Thank you, Professor, but I think…."

"No, no, m'dear. I insist!" He loaded her with all the foodstuffs until her arms were brimming.

"Thank you, sir. I really must be going back."

"Yes, yes, of course. And if you'll be wanting any more, feel free to come back, and bring Harry and his little girlfriend with you?" He opened the door to the corridor for her.

"Actually, sir, they've broken up."

"Oh my, and at such an awful time too. That poor, poor boy. You don't think there's anything I can do…?"

"Actually, there is." With this, Professor Slughorn's face brightened and she had his full attention. Hermione felt a little guilty for taking advantage of him like this, but she thought it would be for the best. "When we get to King's Cross, could you be there when Harry meets his relatives? They're Muggles, you see, and they…."

"Of course, m'dear. Anything for the dear boy. I've heard about those relatives of his. I would be proud to help Harry in any way." After the slightest of moments in which Hermione could almost _see_ the thought pass through Slughorn's mind, he continued, "In fact, it might be a good idea for me to accompany him back to their home. Make sure they treat him right, y'know?"

"I don't think we'll be staying there that long, sir. We'll be headed back for the Burrow to attend Bill Weasley and Fleur's wedding."

"I see, I see. Well then, I shall see you and Harry at the platform then."

"Thank you, sir." She would have dumped all the food he had given her before returning to her carriage, but she figured Ron would be glad to see it. No point in wasting good food, even if it was from a Slytherin. Halfway back to her friends, she heard her name being called.

"Hey there, Hermione. Where'd you get all that food?" She peeked above the quivering plate of éclairs to see Ron approaching her from the other end of the hallway.

"Ron, what are doing? I was going to come and surprise you."

"Well, when I woke up you weren't there, and I didn't want to be alone with Harry and Ginny, so…." He flushed a little at this. "But here, let me help you with that." He took most of the dishes she had been carrying. "Crikey, 'Mione! Steak and kidney pudding? I _know_ the food cart doesn't carry that." Ron eyed the food as if he couldn't decide whether to start eating it now or carry it back.

Hermione giggled. "Let's just say, I have my sources." _In more ways than one_, she thought to herself.

"Gee, thanks! I'm sure Harry would appreciate some of this as well," he said as they started making their way back to the other two.

Sometimes Hermione envied how uncomplicated life was for Ron. Although he wasn't always right, being able to see the world in black and white meant not always having to guess at the shadows. She found some measure of comfort in that kind of simplicity. His priorities were clearly his family, in which Harry was included, Quidditch and food. She just wondered where she fit in and hoped it was somewhere above food.

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Author's notes:

Sorry, looks like we won't be finding out what was written in the textbook just yet, but hope you enjoy the longer chapter. And yes, I'm keeping Hermione and Ron's ambiguous relationship as what I perceive as canon, at least for the time being.

June W – It may be a while yet until we see our favorite ex-professor again….

Sabrina – Sorry, ffn sometimes messes up urls and e-mail addresses, so I wasn't able to e-mail you the link. But if you're still interested, try looking at the hp-lexicon and Leaky Cauldron websites.

Ambi76 – Yeah, it did seem a little lame to have them be napping, but it does say at the end of HBP that Ginny was going to sleep early because none of them had been sleeping well lately, so I figured it wasn't that far of a stretch. )


	4. Petunia's Secret

Chapter 3

The reunion at the train platform had not gone as well as expected, at least for Hermione. No one had had any hopes that meeting the Dursleys would have been a pleasant event, but she hadn't realized how hard it would be to convince her own parents to allow her to stay with Harry instead of going home. They had obviously already heard about the death of Dumbledore and while conferring with the other distraught parents waiting at King's Cross, had decided that six years of near death experiences at the side of Harry and Ron were quite enough already. While they alternately pleaded and lectured her, she saw over their shoulders that Professor Slughorn was doing as she had asked and reminding Mr. Dursley of his promise to the late headmaster. Eventually, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, who had already said goodbye to Ron, had had to speak to her parents because her mother was becoming hysterical.

"How can you…how can you live like that?" her mother had said between sobs. Never knowing when something might happen?" Mrs. Weasley put her arm around her mother and tried to comfort her. Hermione was reminded of the clock that sat in the Burrow's kitchen. She wondered if every hand still pointed to "mortal peril".

"Mummy, I'm sorry, but this is something I have to do. You've been proud of me for six years because I'm one of the brightest students at Hogwarts. And because of that, Harry needs me by his side, now more than ever. But even more importantly, I'm his _friend_." This little speech only caused her mother to burst into tears once more.

"Hermione, if what Mr. Weasley says is true, then you're a full adult now in the eyes of the wizarding world, and we won't be able to stop you from doing what you want to do. But you know that to us, you will always be our little girl." The look in his eyes and the tone in which he said this caused Hermione's own eyes to water.

"I know, Daddy. But I want you to still be proud of me. And if I went back with you and turned my back on Harry now, there's no way I would ever forgive myself. Please, Daddy. You have to understand…." By the way he looked at her in reluctant resignation she knew he did. "I love you, Daddy," she said as he hugged him. He held her tightly before letting go.

"Mummy," she said, turning to her mother, who enveloped her in a fierce embrace.

"I love you too. No matter what you do." She seemed to have accepted that she would have to let her only baby go.

"I know. And thank you. For everything," Hermione whispered, before finally letting go. "I'll try to owl you as much as I can. And please, take good care of Crookshanks for me."

She had left them and gotten into the car with Mr. Dursley, Harry, and Ron. Mr. Dursley seemed intent on pretending that neither of the passengers in the back seat existed as he rambled off rule after rule to Harry.

"There will be _no_ magic, do you hear me, boy? _No magic_ in the house while you are there! You and your friends are to stay away from Dudley, too. I won't have you pulling any of your tricks on him! The only reason we're letting you come back is because that damned Dimplepore…."

"Dumbledore," said Harry softly.

"What's that?" exclaimed Mr. Dursley, surprised that his nephew had spoken up after taking everything he had said so far quietly.

"I said, his name is _Dumbledore_! And he's _dead._"

"Dead? Why…."

"And I'm only going to your home because he wanted me to. We'll be gone tomorrow, and you won't ever have to see me again."

"Well…_hmph_." Vernon Dursley wasn't quite sure what to say to that. It seemed that for once, Harry was going to do what he wanted him to do.

The rest of the drive back to Little Whinging had been quiet and uneventful. Mrs. Dursley had been just as surprised to see Ron and Hermione as Mr. Dursley had been and strongly conveyed her disapproval at their intrusion on her hospitality, but when told it would be just for a night, had also shut up. Dudley had taken one look at Harry and Ron and scowled. When he saw her though, his eyes widened briefly before a low growl from Ron sent him scurrying away.

As it was late, the three of them had gone up to their rooms. Ron was staying in Harry's room, and Hermione had been shown the guest bedroom. Which is where she was lying right now. Normally, she would've been in Harry's room with him and Ron discussing plans for the immediate future, but she had told them that she was tired because she hadn't slept on the train and said her good night. Ron appeared a bit bereft at her leaving, but Harry seemed fine with it.

"Go on, Hermione. We've all had a long day. Horrid as it is, this may be the last safe place there is in all of England for us now, and who knows when we'll ever be able to get a full night of sleep again? Good night, Hermione. We'll see you in the morning."

Of course, just because she was exhausted didn't mean she was going straight to sleep. Not when there was something she needed that could only be found in this house. Hermione lit her wand and tiptoed to the door, opening it slightly. As she performed her next spell, she crossed her fingers and hoped that the item she wanted even existed in the first place, and secondly, that it wouldn't cause too much of a ruckus to retrieve.

"_Accio Lily Potter's letter!_"

A few baited breaths later, a large, creamy envelope flew through the door and into her hands. It was at least as old as she was, but the ink that had been used to write the address had not faded with time. Her hands trembled as she pulled out the potions textbook and opened it to the last page she had been looking at. She only had a second or so to confirm that the handwriting matched before the bedroom door flew open and the lights turned on.

"What in God's name do you think you are doing!" said Mrs. Dursley in a hushed but angry voice. Hermione could only stare at her in shock. "What is that? What did you summon to you?"

"You know…?" began Hermione.

"Of course I know what you did; I had to live with my sister every summer for six years." The older woman grabbed the envelope from her. "Now what are you doing with her wedding invitation?"

"I…I needed to verify…her handwriting," finished Hermione, lamely. This seemed to catch Petunia off guard.

"Her handwriting?" She sat down next to Hermione on the bed. Hermione was just as mystified at her behavior. This was not the Petunia Dursley that Harry had told her about. Still, something told her she could trust her at this moment, away from her husband.

"I found something, a textbook from when she had been a student. And I wanted to see…if she had been the one to write in it."

Mrs. Dursley snorted. "That _would_ be just like Lily to do so. Writing in textbooks. Here, let me see that." Hermione hesitantly handed the book to the woman, who held it at arm's length and looked at it down her nose. "I don't know about the rest of this scribbling, but _that_," she said, pointing at the part written in formerly-invisible ink, "is definitely Lily's handwriting." She closed the book, handed it back to Hermione, and stood up. Hermione could tell that she was struggling with whether or not to say what she was going to say next, so she stayed quiet.

"Since I may never see Harry again, I suppose it's time to give him this." She knelt down by the chest at the foot of the bed and opened it. "I've been saving this, keeping it hidden from Vernon all these years," she said as she dug through the layers of blankets stored in there. Finally, she found what she was looking for and stood up. "This was Lily's."

_It was a locket!_ Hermione took the piece of jewelry from the older woman, but upon examination, realized it could not be the Horcrux they were looking for. Although it was also golden, it was small and light with no inscriptions on its cover. Inside there was a lock of red hair—Lily's hair, Hermione assumed. The trinket seemed unlikely to be an heirloom of Slytherin's, and Lord Voldemort would never have used something so austere to be one of his Horcruxes.

Still, Hermione knew that Harry would appreciate having something of his mother's. "Thank you, Mrs. Dursley. I'll be sure Harry gets it."

"You mustn't tell Vernon that I gave it to you, of course."

"No, ma'am."

"Very well. And I trust there will be no more magic tonight?" She was slipping back into her stern demeanor again.

"No, ma'am."

"Good night, then."

"Mrs. Dursley," called out Hermione as she was leaving the room. "Just one more thing before you go. Would you have a telephone book I could take a look at?"

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Author's notes:

Okay, okay. I know that was a weird place to end the chapter, but you'll see why later, although probably not in the next chapter. As you can probably tell, I like to keep my readers hanging. And yeah, still no revelation as to what was written in the book, but at least now you know _who_ wrote it.

I hope it's clear now what information Hermione had gleaned from Slughorn in the last chapter. Actually, it's more of a confirmation, since she had heard him saying the same thing repeatedly throughout the year.


	5. Three Dances

Chapter 4

The wedding, of course, was beautiful. Hermione was glad that they had been able to celebrate after all the tragedy that had ensued. Also amusing was watching Gabrielle trying to get Harry's attention throughout the ceremony and reception. She was thoroughly unsuccessful, though, as Harry only had eyes for Ginny. And, it seemed, the same could be said for Ron and herself, respectively.

She had chosen to wear a pale yellow dress, which complemented her creamy skin nicely. Ginny, Fleur, and Gabrielle had helped her fix her hair so that it was half up with the rest falling down her back in glossy ringlets. Fleur herself had tucked a few sprigs of freesia that matched her dress exactly into her hair, saying, "Eet is _my_ wedding day, and I will have every girl looking 'er most beautiful! Zere is no worry that zat anyone will be more beautiful zan me, of course." Hermione caught Ginny rolling her eyes at this, but only smiled in response. It _was_ nice to dress up, and who knows, it might be the last time they would be able to do so. She had caught herself thinking many thoughts like that of late.

She had to admit that Ron looked rather smart himself in his new dress robes, which Mrs. Weasley had bought him with the money from Mr. Weasley's promotion. When he had first seen her right before the ceremony, he had grown very red in the face, and at first, Hermione thought he was going to just stand there. But after a nudging from Harry, he had come over and offered his arm to her and had been treating her as a perfect gentleman ever since.

When the music came on after dinner, she was slightly surprised, but pleasantly so, when he asked her to dance. She gave her assent, and he led her out onto the dance floor. There was an awkward moment when they tried to figure out where to put their hands, but she ended up wrapping hers behind his neck, and he placed his on the small of her back.

"You look very beautiful tonight," he whispered into her ear as they swayed to the music. She blushed and looked down, unable to meet his eyes.

"Thank you, Ron."

"And I wanted to tell you, before we go to Godric's Hollow, before we start this new adventure, that…." He faltered for a second, but Hermione knew what was coming.

"It's okay, Ron. I know."

"But I wanted to say it…."

"I know, but I don't want to hear it from you now. Not when everyone around me is telling each other the same thing because it might be the last time they can. Ron, I need to know that you're going to be there with me on the other side of this, after everything that's going to happen in the next few months. _I need to know that_ _you'll be there_. And I won't hear those words from you until then." However else Hermione expected Ron to react to her little tirade, she didn't expect him to chuckle.

"That's my Hermione, bossy to the end." He kissed her on her forehead and tucked it beneath his chin as they continued to dance. She held on tight to him, memorizing the feel of his shoulders under her arms, his chest against her cheeks.

When the song ended, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to find Remus and Tonks.

"Wotcher, Hermione," said Tonks with a wink. She looked better than ever now that Remus had finally acknowledged and was reciprocating his feelings towards her.

"Hello, Tonks."

"Ron, do you mind if I cut in? I simple cannot keep up with Nymphadora and what she calls 'dancing'." Tonks swatted at him playfully.

"Sure, come on, Tonks. Let's show these old fogies how to really boogie."

Remus swept Hermione into his arms and waltzed her gracefully away from the two, who were doing what seemed to be a close imitation of the _Tarantallegra_ spell.

"Thank you for obliging this old man, Hermione."

"It's entirely my pleasure, Remus. And you're not old." Remus' eyebrows lifted.

"Not old? Perhaps it has been to long since I was your Professor," he said with a kind smile. "Or maybe the fact that I don't have any children makes you think that I am 'not old'. But you realize I was the same year as Harry's parents? I'm old enough to be your father."

"Actually, Remus, I had wanted to ask you something about Harry's parents. His mother, to be exact."

"Ah, Lily Potter née Evans. What is it you want to know about her?"

"Well, how well did you know her during Hogwarts?"

"Hmmm, I have to admit I was a bit preoccupied with my little monthly problem and running around with James, Sirius, and Peter to really notice her. That is, until James started noticing her. Then it was 'Lily this' and 'Lily that' and 'Do you think she noticed when I scored so-and-so many times in the last game?'" Hermione giggled at his impression of James Potter. "Why, was there anything in particular you wanted to know?"

"Well…," she paused and gauged her next words carefully. "Do you know how she felt towards Snape?" The way his body suddenly tensed up told her she had stumbled onto something. He quickly recovered, though, and while still keeping with the beat, he cast a quick _Muffiato_ spell so that no one else could hear what they were saying.

"Why would you want to know that?" he asked with an anxious tone. Hermione decided she would need to trust him since he was the only source she currently had.

"Harry had Snape's potions book all last year, although he didn't know it at the time. I doubt he would have continued to use it if he had known."

"How did he come to realize…?"

"It was the night of the attack. Harry had tried a spell that he had learned from book on him, and he had revealed that _he_ was the Half-Blood Prince."

"The Half-Blood Prince?"

"Yes, inside the book, he had written 'This is the property of the Half-Blood Prince.' Prince was his mother's maiden name. His father was a Muggle. Didn't you know?"

"No…I had just assumed…. He was a Slytherin, and they were almost all…." As Remus grappled with this realization, Hermione continued to tell him about the discovery of the invisible ink and the confirmation that it was Lily's handwriting.

"And what had she written?"

"That's why I wanted to ask you about their relationship, because it's quite puzzling, what I found. She had written, 'Why aren't you speaking to me anymore?'"

"I see." Hermione still didn't see, but she let him continue to turn her as he thought it through. After a few more beats, he seemed ready to talk again. "You have to understand, I never mentioned this to James nor anyone else…."

"I won't tell Harry; I promise." He smiled down at her.

"I know. You're very protective of Harry; just as his father was of me." He paused again to let the wave of nostalgia pass. "You know that as a werewolf, I possess a heightened sense of smell and hearing." She nodded. "Well, once when I was serving detention down in the dungeons, I had heard voices in one of the potions classrooms. I didn't need to see them to know it was Lily and Severus. Of course I was surprised to hear the two of them down there together. It sounded like they were working on a potions experiment of some kind. And Snape, well, he sounded almost pleasant. Like I said, it was quite a surprise. The next time I saw them interact with each other it was right after the Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. James was being his usual obnoxious self and messing around with Severus. Lily tried to defend him, but I guess Severus couldn't handle being saved by a Gryffindor in front of everyone. He called her a 'Mudblood' that day. I don't know if they ever spoke again after that." Hermione digested all this information and quickly found an inconsistency.

"But if you said that happened after your O.W.L.'s, that would've been during your fifth year. This book isn't used until the sixth year." Remus shrugged.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they were working on sixth year potions during their fifth year. Has it ever stopped you?" he inquired with another quirk of his eyebrow. "I seem to remember hearing about a certain feline incident in your second year…." Hermione groaned.

"When am I ever going to live that down? It was an _accident_!" Remus chuckled.

"I'm just teasing you, my dear Miss Granger. No one underestimates your talent at Potions." But Hermione's mind was already back to the problem at hand.

"It still doesn't make sense, though. If they weren't talking to each other, how would Lily have been able to write that in his textbook?"

"Hermione, you have to let it go. Lily's dead, and Severus will be, if I have anything to do with it. Don't do this, okay? You'll only upset Harry." He had stopped dancing and was looking at her very seriously.

"Is anything wrong, Hermione?" Harry stepped into view.

"No, nothing's wrong," said Remus as he ended the _Muffliato _spell. Harry continued to look at Hermione, who had yet to say anything. Remus squeezed her hand and gave her a pointed look before letting go.

"Remus is right, Harry. Nothing's the matter. He just stepped on my toes while dancing."

"In that case, you won't mind if I have the next dance?" Remus bowed.

"Of course not. The lady is yours."

After Remus was out of earshot, Harry asked again, "Now what was that really about?"

"It's nothing, Harry. He was just giving me some advice on what to do with Ron," she quickly made up.

"Oh really, now?" Harry cocked his head to one side. "And why would you be needing advice from Remus about that?"

"Harry Potter, you're my best friend and all, but if you think I'm going to tell you…."

"I was just kidding, Hermione. You know you set yourself up for that one."

"Yeah, I guess I did."

"So anyway, guess what?" Harry's mood had changed suddenly; she could hear the genuine excitement in his voice.

"What?"

"I think we may have a lead on who R.A.B. is and where one of the Horcruxes is," he said with a broad grin.

"Are you serious?"

"Do you think I would joke about this?"

"No. Go on."

"So I gave my mother's locket to Ginny just now. Thanks again for giving it to me, by the way."

"Of course. Did she like it?" Harry gave her a stare as if to remind her to stay on topic. "Never mind."

"So the twins saw me giving it to her, and, being Fred and George, started teasing us about it. One of them, I can't tell which, asked if it was the locket they had found when cleaning out the cabinet last year in 12 Grimmauld Place. And the other one said, 'The one we couldn't open?' Hermione, do you remember what I'm talking about?"

"Vaguely, but how can you be sure…?"

"Think, Hermione. Whose house was it?"

"Well, it was handed down to Sirius…Black! Sirius _Black_!" Her mind churned. "And his brother was Regulus Black! R.A.B.!" Harry looked down at her with a smug look on his face. For once he had figured something out before her.

"Harry, do you really think?"

"Well, I remember Sirius saying that his brother had fallen in with the Death Eaters, but then was killed by Voldemort when he realized what he had gotten himself into. It all sort of makes sense, don't you think?"

"Harry, this is great news!"

"I know!"

"So what happened to the locket then?" At this, Harry's face fell.

"I don't know. I remember we threw all those things into the rubbish sack, and then Mrs. Weasley probably just threw it out somewhere."

"Oh." Images of the three of them looking through a magical garbage dump flashed through her head.

"It's still good news though. After Godric's Hollow…."

"You still want to go to Godric's Hollow?"

"Well, yes. I can't explain it, Hermione. I've just got this feeling that I have to go there first, where it all started. I don't know if it's guilt because I've never gone to visit my parent's graves or something else."

"It's okay, Harry. You take the lead, and we'll follow. This is your quest, after all, isn't it?" Harry blushed.

"I don't mean to make you two follow me on a wild goose chase all over England."

"No really, it's okay. That's what we're here for; this is what we've been preparing for the past six years."

"I…thank you."

"There's no need to thank me. Just promise me that you'll never ask about Ron and me again, will you?" Hermione wasn't sure, but she would swear later that The Boy-Who-Lived stuck his tongue out at her. The music stopped then, and the two of them stepped to the side of the dance floor.

"I'm going to find Ron and tell him the good news."

"If you don't mind, I think I'll sit down for a bit. I've just been twirled around for the last fifteen minutes straight." Harry nodded and disappeared into the crowd. As Hermione looked for a seat, she felt someone grab her right hand. She spun around to find herself staring at Neville Longbottom.

"Neville! I didn't see you earlier!"

"Well, hello Mudblood, it's good to see you too," drawled the round-faced boy in a voice amazingly reminiscent of Draco Malfoy's.

----------

Author's notes:

Sorry, I couldn't resist! Btw, the locket from the cabinet actually exists in canon, but I'll let you find it on your own. ;P

duj – I don't actually remember that line, so thanks for pointing that out. The way I see it, if Slughorn went so far as to try to alter his memories of Tom for Dumbledore, he would also try to "re-write" history regarding Snape for Hermione. Also, the Dursley's do, indeed have a guest room. It's mentioned in one of the first chapters in SS and is where Aunt Marge usually stays.

YSM – Thank you so much for your wonderful review. Considering you've written one of my favorite HG/SS fics ("A Taste of Silence") I consider it high praise, indeed. Just hope my story lives up to it.

LSMunch – I agree, that was one of my worries about my original draft. I've gone back and reworked the last scene a bit, but ultimately, Petunia's still acting most peculiar. I attribute it to reading about JKR revealing that there's more to Petunia Dursely than meets the eye and her softening a bit in OotP.


	6. Polyjuice and Wrackspurts

Chapter 5

Hermione immediately tried to wrest her hand away from his grip, but he anticipated her move and held on tightly.

"Dance with me." There was no doubt about it. It was Draco Malfoy.

"Where's Neville? What did you do to him?" Hermione wished she had been able to somehow stow her wand on her body, but it was impossible with this dress. She really, really regretted her choice of attire now.

"Dance with me," he repeated and twisted her arm until she was forced to draw near to him to escape the pain.

"What makes you think I won't just scream bloody murder right now?" she seethed at him. He smirked confidently at her; the expression was entirely foreign on Neville's face.

"If you were going to do that, you would've done so already." With a sigh, Hermione realized he was right. So why hadn't she done so yet? She could only attribute it to her innate curiosity as to what Draco was doing here of all places. She knew she was still safe; he hadn't brandished his own wand on her yet, and she was surrounded by friends. But that didn't mean she was pleased about her predicament.

"What do you want, Malfoy?"

"It should be obvious to you by now; I want to dance with you."

"Fine." She tentatively put her other hand, the one he wasn't already holding, on his shoulder. Draco's smile grew as he pulled her close to him so that the full length of her was pressed up against him. "What are you…?"

"Shut up, Mudblood. It's my turn to talk now." For the second time that night, Hermione's dancing partner cast the _Muffliato_ spell.

"How did you learn that?"

"I said, shut up!"

Hermione switched tactics. "Neville would never dance with me like this."

"What did you say?"

"I said, Neville would never dance with me like this. So if you want to keep your cover, you better let go of me." Draco saw the wisdom in her advice and reluctantly allowed her to put some distance between their bodies.

"Thank you."

"I'm not here to do you any favors, Granger. I don't have much time so bloody shut the hell up and listen. I need you to come with me. Severus is in trouble."

"_Snape! _That's what this is about? What makes you think I'd do anything for him? Or you for that matter?"

"You'll do it because you're a Gryffindor."

"And you're a Slytherin. So what makes you think I'd trust you?"

"You can't. But if you'd rather not see your friend Neville join his parents in St. Mungo's, you'll do as I say." He let her digest those words before continuing. "As I was saying, you're a Gryffindor, which means you're going to do what you think is right, no matter what everyone else says."

"And you're going to somehow convince me that going with you to help Snape is right?"

"Think about it, Granger! Do you really think Dumbledore was that stupid? That he'd trust Snape all these years without good reason?"

"But he's dead! Snape killed him!"

"He was dying already; he knew it was going to happen. And Severus would've died if he hadn't killed him."

"What are you talking about?"

"An Unbreakable Vow. He made one to my mother. If he didn't…."

"…If he didn't help you do what Voldemort had ordered you to do, he would die," finished Hermione.

"How did you know about that?" For the first time since the conversation had started, Draco was visibly confused, which made him actually look more like the real Neville would.

"Never mind about that. He still killed Dumbledore," she said resolutely.

"You're not listening to me, Granger. It was all part of the plan."

"You're telling me the Headmaster planned his own death."

"Yes."

"Draco, I think _you_ need to be committed to St. Mungo's."

"I don't have time to argue with you, Mudblood. You're just going to have to believe me."

"How do you know all this, anyway? Aren't you a Death Eater?" There was a pause before Draco answered.

"Yes, well that was a regrettable decision."

"A 'regrettable decision'? A regrettable decision is not having brought your umbrella with you when it's raining. Becoming a Death Eater is _not_ a 'regrettable decision.'"

"Fine, it was the worst decision I ever made in my life, all right? Are you happy now?"

"No, Draco. I am _not_ happy. Dumbledore is dead, Neville is who-knows-where-and-in-how-much-danger, and I'm dancing with a Death Eater. I would have to say that I am _definitely. Not. Happy._"

"Gee, Granger. Did anybody ever tell you you're beautiful when you're angry?"

"What?"

"I didn't think so, because it's not true."

"That's it." Hermione wrenched herself free from him and started storming off the dance floor.

"Granger!" She ignored him.

"Hermione!" He grabbed her hand and spun her around. "Hermione," he repeated, dead serious. "Please."

That one word made Hermione pause. The Draco she knew would never plead with her, a Mudblood.

"Not until you release Neville."

"Fine."

"How do I know you'll do that?"

"I'll take you straight to him from here."

"No, we can't do that. I can't leave with you now."

"But…."

"Harry and Ron can't suspect anything." She couldn't believe she was siding with Draco at the sake of her two best friends. "I'll have to meet you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow's too late. My mother and I, we're leaving the country tonight."

"What do you need me for anyway?"

"I need someone to watch over Severus when I'm gone."

"What?"

"He's not himself anymore, Granger. What he had to do…I think it broke him. I…I'm worried about him."

"Why do you even care?"

"He saved my life. It's because of me he's like this." It was hard for Hermione to believe that Draco could be moved by guilt, but with him wearing Neville's face it seemed minutely more possible. "How many times has he saved your life? Saved Potter's life? How many times has he risked his own life for all of us?" Hermione remained quiet. Draco could see he was getting through to her and kept pressing. "Think about it, Granger. He killed Dumbledore. Where do you think that places him in Voldemort's eyes right now?"

"He'd have proved himself trustworthy; he'd be privy to everything."

"Right. And for now, he's earned himself a bit of immunity. But if he keeps slipping, how long do you think that will last?"

"He's…slipping?"

"He had to kill the only person who ever believed there was something good in him. Something of worth. How do you think that would make you feel?"

"I…." Sympathy started to well up in her until suspicion met it head on.

"Why did you come to me? If you think that because I'm a girl, I'd be more gullible…."

"No, Granger. I came to you because your two friends are bloody idiots! They'd have thrown about a million hexes at me by now, and while I wouldn't mind being able to throw a few back at them, even I know my limits. And facing Potter and the entire Weasley clan right now is not how I want to spend my last few hours in England. Speaking of which, it's time for me to go." This time she was the one chasing him.

"Wait! How do I know you're telling the truth?" He turned around.

"I think I've told you enough already. If you still don't believe me, I guess I underestimated you, Granger." She stopped him once again.

"How do I find him?" He gave her a level, judging gaze. With the blink of an eye, his decision was made.

"Here." He tossed something to her. It was a green velvet drawstring pouch. Hermione could feel something small, hard, and heavy inside. "It's a Personalized Portkey. That'll take you straight to him, wherever he is." He cocked his head to one side. "Of course, since I won't be with you there's no telling how he'll react to you appearing there without any warning. But I'm sure you'll think of something." He started running away into the woods that surrounded the garden. Hermione could see his hair turning back to his familiar pale blonde. She tried to keep up with him, but it was hard as the undergrowth was dense enough to keep catching her dress.

"What about Neville?" she called out after him.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about him," came the last lazy drawl she'd ever hear from him. And then with a _pop _he was gone.

"Wait!" Her last step towards where he had been caused her to trip over something large on the ground and she fell onto it. "It" turned out to be mostly soft, warm, and familiar.

"Neville!" When he didn't respond, she got on her knees (dress be damned) and inspected him. Except for a small bump on the back of his head and the fact that she couldn't wake him up, he seemed uninjured. Draco must have cast a Stunner on him, she realized. Since she didn't have her wand on her, she wouldn't be able to _Ennervate_ him just yet, so she considered her options. She could try dragging him back to the party, but that would raise too many questions. No, her best bet was to go back alone and then come back later with her wand.

"I'm really, really sorry about this, Neville," she said while she tried to position him so that he'd be more comfortable. She then stood up and brushed off as much dirt and leaves as she could from her dress, but it was a lost cause. Anyone looking at her would have thought she'd have been running through the woods and rolling around on the ground, which, of course, was exactly what she had been doing. She'd have to somehow sneak back into the house and retrieve her wand without being seen, if at least to clean and repair her dress.

Luckily for her, Bill and Fleur had decided that moment to give their toasts, so she was able to use the distraction to make her way out of the cover of trees to the house. She was just about to open the door when she heard her name being called behind her back. She whipped around to find Luna Lovegood looking dreamily at her.

"Oh, Luna, it's only you! You gave me such a fright!"

"I didn't mean to do that. You look very nice today, Hermione." Only Luna Lovegood would have thought she looked nice right now.

"Oh…thank you. You do too." Luna was wearing a dress that seemed to be made out of the same material as the spangled silver robes she had worn to Slughorn's party last year. While perhaps it wasn't the most flattering dress she could have worn, at least she wasn't wearing her Spectrespecs. "What are you doing here? They're giving the toast now."

"Oh, Fleur asked me to wait over here."

"Why?"

"I don't think she likes my dress." Luna looked down at it and rubbed the fabric with her fingers. "It's too bad; it's the only dress I've got. My father doesn't really know how to shop for me." She said this so candidly that Hermione felt a twang of pity for the motherless girl. All of a sudden, she came up with a great idea.

"Look, Luna, I don't have my wand on me, which was why I was going back into the house. Since you have yours," she said as she removed Luna's wand from behind her ear and handed it to her, "could you do me a favor?"

"Sure." Luna's face had brightened considerably.

"I left Neville back there." Hermione pointed back towards the way she had come. "He was showing me where some puffapod flowers were that he had found, but I think we ran into some Wrackspurts along the way. Neville got so befuddled that he Stunned himself. Can you go back there and _Ennervate_ him?"

"Oh, poor Neville. He does get himself into predicaments like this fairly often, doesn't he?"

"Yes, he does. Now he might still be disoriented and not remember anything, so you'll have to tell him what happened."

"Okay." Luna started walking back towards the woods.

"Don't tell him about the puffapod flowers though. I don't want him going to look for them again and walking through the Wrackspurt swarm again," she called out after her.

"I understand."

"Thanks again, Luna."

"You're welcome, Hermione. I'm glad you can trust me with this." As the girl disappeared from sight, Hermione added guilt to her list of emotions towards the girl. She really shouldn't have taken advantage of her that way. Hermione sighed. It was a barely a few days since she had left Hogwarts, and already, she'd had to—if not outright lie to her friends—keep a multitude of secrets from them. She wondered how many more times she'd have to deceive them by the time this was all over. Severus Snape had better be worth all of this.

-----------------

Author's notes:

Okay, I fully realized that Hermione wasn't in the train compartment with Luna when she told Harry about the Wrackspurts, but I can imagine him repeating it to her at some moment throughout the year. Or maybe Hermione read about them herself in the Quibbler, which I guess is even more unlikely. Anyways, I just couldn't help throwing Luna and her Wrackspurts into the chapter, so you'll just have to live with the inconsistency. P

Special thanks to my beta, saturngurl123, for all her help! I do get carried away with commas sometimes. ;)

DistinctVagueness – Sorry, I don't really have a plan for how many chapters yet. Severus is taking his sweet long time in showing up, isn't he?

Nore – I think he should be back in the next chapter or two….


	7. Broomsticks vs Apparition

Chapter 6

It was still dark and very early the next morning when Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked out of The Burrow.

"For the last time, Ron, I will _not_ fly with you and Harry to Godric's Hollow!"

"Why not, 'Ermione? It's only about an hour away by broom," reasoned Ron.

"I've flown on a hippogriff and hated it. I've flown on a Thestral and hated it. And have you _seen_ me fly on a broom recently?"

"But Hermione…," whine Ron.

"No, and that's final. What's the purpose of getting an Apparition license if you're not going to use it?"

"But you know Harry isn't licensed." Ron gestured back towards Harry, who was watching the two of them with an amused smile on his face. At Ron's pleading look, he finally stepped in.

"It's okay, Ron. The two of us will fly and have some male bonding time. Hermione can just apparate meet us there," he suggested.

"See? Harry can be perfectly reasonable. I don't see why you can't."

"But we're supposed to be doing this _together_. Not splitting up at the first instance!"

"It's not like anything's going to happen to me in the next hour. If anything, it's the two of you I'm worried about."

"There's nothing to worry about. No one knows where we're going and besides, we've both learned the Disillusionment Charm from Moody."

"When was this?" asked Hermione, indignant that he hadn't bothered to teach her.

"Last night, right around the time of the toast. After I told Ron about the locket, we talked about the plans for today and thought it would be a good idea to learn it from him while he was at the wedding. We looked around for you, but you were nowhere to be seen."

"Yeah, where were you?"

"I was keeping Luna company." There, that wasn't necessarily a lie.

"Luna? I didn't even see her at the wedding."

"Actually," admitted Harry, "I saw her in the beginning, but then she disappeared."

"Yeah, _Fleur—_" she said the name with a certain ounce of derision—"didn't want Luna there because she wasn't up to her high aesthetic standards."

"Are you serious? Wait, never mind. That sounds exactly like something Fleur would do. Can't believe she's my sister-in-law now."

"I think Fleur's little sister was hoping to get Harry into the family as well," teased Hermione.

"Yeah, well…," said Harry lamely. He was blushing, too. "Wow, look at the time. The sun's about to rise soon; we better get a move on it if we want to go before it gets light out." The lowest edge of the eastern horizon was almost imperceptibly lighter.

"Fine," said Ron, suddenly sounding very businesslike, "but I need to do something first. Harry, if you'll excuse us?" Hermione had no idea what Ron was talking about, but Harry seemed to have a clue as he edged away them.

"I'll just be getting our brooms from the shed then. Don't mind me." He whistled as he walked, and Ron waited until he was a distance away before confronting Hermione.

"What's this about, Ron?" she said suspiciously.

"Oh, there's just something I've been wanting to do since the fourth year Yule Ball." He took a step nearer to her.

"Oh, and what's that?" He was even closer now; only a few inches separated their bodies. She looked up into his eyes and held her breath without knowing it. He was looking down at her with that confident grin in which she paradoxically found so much exasperation and security at the same time.

"This." He kissed her then. Not an awkward, first time kiss (although this _was_ their first time), nor the polite, chaste kiss between two friends. No, this was a back-bending, eye-closing, toe-curling, I-don't-want-to-be-anywhere-else-in-the-world-right-now kiss. When it was finally over, he helped her back into an upright position, but had to steady her to keep her from falling over. The grin was back.

"Wow." A million things flew through her mind then: Viktor never kissed me like that; was that what Cormac was trying to do under the mistletoe; Ron's certainly had a lot of practice; can we do that again? But instead of voicing any of these, she went up on tiptoes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and proceeded to _do_ the last one.

This time, it was his turn to say, "Wow."

In the distance they could hear Harry saying loudly, "I've got the brooms, and I'm coming back now!" They quickly disentangled themselves from each other. Harry reappeared with Ron's Cleansweep 11, his own Firebolt, and a knowing look on his face.

"Everything settled then, mate?"

"Yup."

"Good, let's go then. You're absolutely sure you won't come with us?" he asked to Hermione. She nodded, still a little breathless.

"Fine. Then it's time to say goodbye to your _wittle Won-Won_," he said as he cast the Disillusionment Charm on the red head. As the spell crept over Ron, he began to disappear into the background until for all intents and purposes, he was invisible. Hermione then watched the same thing happen to Harry.

"Bye, Hermione."

"See you in an hour." Two broom sticks flew off into the sky.

"Bye, Harry! Bye, Ron!" she called out after them. And then she was all alone again. All alone but for a Personalized Portkey, a bottle of Polyjuice potion that she had nicked from the Room of Requirement on her last visit, and a determination to make the most of her one hour without the boys.

She opened the drawstring pouch that Draco had given her and peered inside. A large emerald set in a gaudily ornate gold ring sat inside. Hermione snorted. _And Slytherins thought Gryffindors lacked subtlety._ Knowing that her time was running out, she uncorked the bottle of Polyjuice, dropped in the strand of hair she had been saving, and watched the potion sizzle and froth. It turned into an almost pleasant shade of auburn. When it stopped bubbling, she looked at her watch, then held her nose and drank it all, hoping she wouldn't turn into a Kneazle, or worse.

The expected nausea and burning sensation came and went. She felt her face to see if any fur had sprouted but felt only skin. A check in the compact she had brought just for this purpose confirmed what she had hoped for—the green eyes of Lily Potter staring back at her.

At first, when the plan had come to her, it had seemed such a brilliant idea. There was no way she could have encountered Snape by herself without Draco by her side. Approaching him as Hermione Granger, best friendof the Boy-Who-Lived-to-Hate-Snape, he would either have killed her outright, held her as a hostage, or run away again. And she had no doubt that if he wanted to hide from even a Personalized Portkey, he would be able to. No, it would be much better to catch him off guard as the (maybe only) childhood friend he once had.

She had saved a single strand of Lily's hair before giving Harry his mother's locket, just in case. While she was pretty sure Harry would have disapproved of—among many other things she was planning on undertaking in the very near future—her taking on his late mother's appearance, she figured it was the best way she had of getting past Snape's defenses. Best case scenario: he'd still be asleep when she Portkeyed to him and she'd be able to make him think he was dreaming and garner some information. Worst case, he'd realize she was an imposter and at least keep her alive long enough to find out how she had managed to impersonate a woman now fifteen years dead, in which case she could use the time to convince him of her intentions. Just what exactly those intentions were she had yet to figure out.

She told herself it was to satiate her curiosity, to find out _why_ Dumbledore had trusted him and why he had then killed him. And maybe, just maybe, Draco had been telling the truth, and she'd be able to prove his allegiance to the Order. But that was a long shot, she knew. And the chances of that happening were becoming even slimmer the longer she stood there reflecting. She glanced at her watch again. Only fifty-five more minutes left. _Right, then_.

She drew out her wand and steeled herself for wherever she might end up as she reached into the pouch and slipped on the ring. Her feet left the ground as she was jerked forward by the Portkey. When they landed again, she found herself still outdoors. _What would Snape be doing outside at this time of night?_ Only then did she realize that she had never considered the fact that Snape might not be alone when she went to him. _What if she had landed herself in the middle of a Death Eaters meeting? Or a raid?_

Fortunately those fears were ungrounded as there was no one in sight—not even her former Professor—nor any sound except for what was customary in the countryside at night. She scanned the area to try and orient herself. The sky was just as dark as when she had left Ottery St. Catchpole and the stars appeared the same, so she was still somewhere relatively nearby. She appeared to be standing halfway up a low, grassy hill. She could make out a few cottages further down the way, but all the windows were still dark. On the top of the hill there grew a single tree. At the bottom of the tree were two white, equal shaped and sized stones. _And—wait—was that someone next to one of the stones? _After a few minutes in which both she and the other person remained completely still, she began to walk slowly and quietly towards it.

Even as she grew nearer it seemed as if Snape—and she was sure that the black-clad body was him now—still had not noticed her presence. This scared Hermione more than anything. The Snape she had known would never have allowed someone to come this close to him without detection. From just a few feet away, she called out.

"Severus?"

Immediately his pale, gaunt face snapped up.

"Lily?"

At the exact same moment he gasped that name, she read what his body had been covering on what she realized now was a gravestone. _Lily Evans Potter_.

_Oh my God. We're in Godric's Hollow_.

---------------

Author's notes:

Yay, a glimpse of Snape! Don't worry, much, much more of him to come in the next chapter….

Thanks again to saturngurl123, who is continually trying to keep me and my abundance of commas in line. ;)

duj – Did you really think Hermione would go to Snape without her wand? My girl has a plan, even though it might not be the best one out there….

YSM – My fault. Regardless, I do really appreciate your comments. It's always nice to see something other than just "update!".


	8. One Hour

Chapter 7

Severus had come to Godric's Hollow for two reasons. The first was that he figured it would be the last place anyone would expect him to be. Secondly, he found some iota of poetic justice in—in a sense—returning to the scene of the crime. Not where he had cast the killing curse on Dumbledore—_that_ had just been the last in a series of increasingly despicable things he had had to do because of his first and greatest mistake. Although, that wasn't wholly true either; deciding to join Voldemort's cause in the first place had been the first mistake. He would never have imagined how much he regretted that now, almost twenty years later. How many more sins would he have to commit until he had paid his penance in full? How many more times would he have to save ungrateful students—especially the Golden Trio—from themselves?

At least Draco seemed to have changed. He hoped that he and his mother would find safety across the Channel or wherever they decided to go. He had refused to be their Secret Keeper but had chosen not to disclose to him that the reason was because he was not planning on surviving much longer. He saw the pitying looks that Draco gave him when he thought he wasn't looking. He knew that ever since that night, that dreadful night, he had lost his edge—that which had kept him always one step ahead of Voldemort and the rest of the Death Eaters.

It was gone now, and there was no reason for him to stay alive anymore. The Unbreakable Vow to Narcissa had been fulfilled, Dumbledore was dead, and there was no way the Boy-Who-Lived-to-Kill-Voldemort was going to accept any more help from him. It was true that the Dark Lord now looked upon him without suspicion, but there was no one left in the Order that would trust his information, and it would not be long before he gave himself away, or worse, before Pettigrew would finally be able to convince Voldemort of Snape's true allegiance.

No, it would be much better to take his life on his own terms, even if it meant dying as a traitor in everyone's eyes. Who would have believed him anyway? He almost regretted telling Draco his story because he feared the boy might one day do something rash to prove his innocence, but he knew Narcissa would keep her only son safe. _Another son kept alive because of a mother's love._

Severus shivered. The chill was starting to set into his tired bones, and he knew that if he remained in this position—draped over Lily's gravestone—his body would pay for it in the morning. He didn't move, though. He had come here to say his one last goodbye, and besides, it wouldn't matter if he was in pain in an hour or so. _Goodbye, Lily._

"Severus?" _Oh God…._

"Lily?" He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Severus, we have to get out of here!"

"No, Lily," he said, rising to confront her. "I know why you're here, and you can't stop me from doing it this time. It's over. I killed you, and I've killed Albus. The Vow is broken. You have no hold over my life anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Something was wrong with her voice. It was familiar but sounded wrong coming from her. Had it really been that long that he had forgotten how she sounded? Or had death changed her in ways that he did not want to know about?

"The Vow, Lily. The Unbreakable Vow you made me take just before going into hiding. It only holds as long as at least two out of three present are still alive. You _know_ that," he said accusingly.

"Is _that _why! Is _that_ why you killed him!"

"No! God, Lily, do you still think so little of me?" He looked at her with the eyes of a wounded, betrayed animal. "No," he said more softly. "I would never have killed him just to release myself from your Vow. It has not been easy to keep it, but I have done it regardless."

"Then I want to hear you say it, Severus. Repeat your Vow to me." If possible, the pain increased in his eyes.

"You won't let me go, will you, Lily? Even after more than fifteen years in the grave, you can't do it."

"Say it!"

"I vowed to never again attempt to take my own life!" he spat out. His words echoed in the stillness of the night as neither of them spoke for several seconds. "I don't know if you realized how silly you were being, making me promise on my life that I wouldn't kill mysef. But I couldn't deny you then; not even Albus could. I really thought you had come to kill me when I first saw you that night. After all the harm I had already done to you, why did you bother trying to save me?" Her green eyes grew moist with tears.

"I…I suppose I must have thought you were worth it." Snape snorted.

"You and Albus, always looking for the best in everyone. You have to appreciate the irony; I ended up killing the only two people who ever saw any good in me."

"You didn't kill me, Severus."

"I might as well have! It was because of _me_ that the Dark Lord heard about the prophecy and decided to go looking for you, James, and Harry. Do you know how many times I've wondered _what if_? What if I hadn't been listening at the door that day? What if I had never joined Voldemort at all? What if I had never pushed you away?" He found he could not look her directly in the eyes as he continued his confession.

"I can't begin to tell you how much I regret what I said that day." He couldn't help it; everything he had been keeping to himself all these years was finally coming out. "I know I lost you then, all because I was too scared that everyone else would see how much you cared for me. And how much I cared for you. Because you were a Gryffindor, and I was a Slytherin."

"What did you say that day, Severus?" she asked gently.

"You know exactly what I said. I called you a Mudblood for trying to help me. It's my worst memory, you know." He chuckled sardonically. "Incidentally, your son's seen it, although I'm sure he thinks I hid it in the Pensieve because I couldn't stand him seeing James and Sirius hexing me."

"Harry? He's seen…?"

"Yes. _Harry_. God, Lily, do you know what it's been like for me these past six years? He's the spitting image of James, which though annoying enough in itself, is nothing compared to having to see _you_ looking at me through those eyes with so much distrust and resentment. It's a reminder to me everyday of what I could have had and lost." He reached out to her then. She flinched away at first but did not draw away completely. His stayed his hand an inch away from her cheek though, afraid to feel the ghostly chill and be reminded tangibly that he had killed her. "Oh Lily. How much you must hate me, and yet how much I still love you," he whispered.

"Love?" He watched realization dawn on her face. "That's it! _That's_ why Dumbledore trusted you!" Sadness filled Severus's heart.

"Yes, although I still maintain that he shouldn't have. 'Love,' he told me. 'That's how I know you will remain true to me, no matter what. You have the ability to love, and that one difference will forever sunder you from Voldemort's side.'" At the time, I could have cared less what he chose to believe. I only knew that because of my stupidity, you were dead. My life was no longer mine; I gave it to the only person I knew who might have the power to finish Voldemort. I wanted vengeance. Only later did I realize it was atonement I was truly seeking." He looked at her with half-hopeful eyes. "Am I done yet? Have you forgiven me?"

She stared at him for a few long seconds before asking, "Why did you kill Dumbledore?" The hope withdrew. He sighed before speaking.

"It all started last summer when I was forced into making another Unbreakable Vow. I promise you, Lily," he said desperately. "I had no idea it was coming. I would never have sullied the one I gave to you if I could have foreseen it."

"Finish your story," she whispered. He hung his head in defeat, and it was a few moments before he started again.

"I vowed to Narcissa that I would protect her son and in the case that he could not do what the Dark Lord had bid him to do, I would do it myself. Albus and I argued for hours about what this could mean. I tried prying the information from the boy himself, but I was unsuccessful. It wasn't until the unfortunate incidents with a cursed necklace and some poisoned mead that we realized he had been ordered to kill Albus.

"I knew then that this was Voldemort's way of testing my loyalties once and for all. There was no way he could have expected a mere boy to kill Albus when he hadn't been able to do it himself. He must have sent that bitch, Bellatrix to ensnare me in a Vow. It was either kill him or die. While I would have glad chosen the latter, _your_ Vow prevented me from doing so." He said this so bitterly that Lily physically flinched in response. "Of course Albus forbade me from killing Narcissa and her sister.

"No, he trusted me with finding another way, yet another mistake on his part. Do you remember the potion we were working on, before I ruined everything for us? I never returned to it after that day; there were too many painful associations with it, and honestly, I didn't think I would be able to perfect it without your help. Now that I had no other option, I knew I had to try. After weeks of experiments, I thought I had figured out what we were missing. Think about it, Lily. What more perfect ingredient for a resurrection potion than a phoenix feather? Fawkes gladly volunteered one of his. You would have liked this: I named it the "Phoenix Solution" after him.

"Of course there was no way to test it. Not only was there an Unforgiveable involved, there were too many other variables. Part of the psychological effects of the potion was that it would cause the person drinking it to resist finishing the entire dose, and the only person who could force them to drink the rest would be someone who loved them but didn't know the full effect of the draught. Twisted little potion, isn't it?" He grinned wryly.

"I argued with him that he was taking my potions making skills for granted, that there was too much at stake and I didn't want to do it anymore, but he wouldn't hear of it. Then he asked if I had found out from my investigations within Slytherin what the timetable was for Draco's plans. Another particularly nasty side effect of the potion is that it's a terribly effective desiccant, but nothing can be drunk between the ingesting of the Phoenix Solution and the casting of the Killing Curse or else it wouldn't work. We wanted to keep that time interval as short as possible, so we needed to know when Draco was planning his assassination attempt.

"In the meantime, Albus was planning a way to have the potion force fed to him. Of course he chose your son for that honor. At first I was furious at him that he would trust such an important task to Harry, but in hindsight, I realize he one of the reasons he did it was so that I had enough emotion within me to kill him. I also realize now why he kept me away from the Defense Against the Dark Arts position for so long. There still are too many temptations for me in that realm."

"How did Dumbledore do it, Severus? How did he make Harry force him to drink it?"

"He played on Harry's need to be involved in the destruction of Voldemort. He made up some story of how he had found another item that encased part of Voldemort's soul and told Harry he would bring him with him to retrieve it. I was sure someone, if not Harry, would have realized how drastic of a change in his modus operandi that was, but no one even mentioned it."

"I don't understand. What does the Horcrux have to do with the Phoenix Solution?" He looked up at her suddenly.

"How did you know about the Horcrux?"

"I…it was something I read about once. From your description, it sounded like what you were talking about."

"My little Lily. What a bad influence I must have been on you for you to be reading about Horcruxes."

"Answer my question, Severus."

"He set up an elaborate ruse. Using the location where he had found another Horcrux, he planted a decoy he had found in a basin filled with the Solution. He then cast a spell over it so that the only way to reach the fake Horcrux was for him to drink the Solution. I also suggested that he cast a spell over the area that would prevent the _Aguamenti_ charm from working so that he wouldn't be able to drink anything afterwards, no matter what.

"We thought of everything, Lily! Every last detail. We just needed to know _when_ to implement the plan. I eventually got this piece of information from a former student of mine. You might remember his father, Sven Swanson? He was a few years older than us. His son, Aric is an exact replica of him, big and blonde. Because of something I had done for him when he was first initiated, he remained amiable to me. That is, as amiable as two Death Eaters can be to each other. He was the one who informed me when Draco had told him to be available to invade Hogwarts. He didn't know how it was to be done, nor did he know who else was to be involved, but that was enough for now. We knew the time and the countdown began." Severus saw Lily's eyes widen then, and she looked quickly at her watch.

"Severus," there was more urgency in her voice now. "We really need to leave. Now!"

"No, Lily! Haven't you been paying attention? It didn't work! Our potion didn't work! He would have come back by now; there would've been some sort of sign. But we gambled and we lost. He's dead, and I killed him. How can you expect me to go on carrying all these burdens? It's too much for any mortal man. You called me a coward last time, and maybe I am. Your son certainly seems to think so. But you know what, Lily? There's nothing you can do to stop me this time."

He reached into his pocket and drew out a small vial. The liquid inside was a dense black; no light reflected from its surface whatsoever.

"This is it, Lily. What I tell every first year class: the ability to 'stopper death'." He uncorked it and looked at her one last time. "Goodbye, Lily, my love." As he tipped the contents of the bottle into his mouth, several things happened almost all at once.

Lily jumped up and batted the bottle from his hands. It fell onto the ground where the potion spilled out and killed everything it touched, leaving a spot of brown, dead grass in its wake. Surprised, Severus grabbed Lily's hand.

"What is the meaning of this? How is it I can feel you? _What _are you!" Then his eyes spotted the emerald ring that she wore on the hand he was holding. "WHERE DID YOU GET THIS?" he roared as he pulled it off her finger.

"Please, sir…." She struggled to free herself from his grasp. "We need to go!"

"_You're_ not Lily! WHO ARE YOU?" He drew his wand on her, but it jumped out of his hand as he suddenly heard Harry's voice from above.

"_Expelliarmus_!" He whipped around to find Harry and his ever-present sidekick Ronald Weasley landing on their broomsticks. He felt the hand he was holding struggle again and his attention was diverted back to her for a second. The red hair and green eyes were fading now and being replaced with bushy brown hair and brown eyes. "Hermione!"

"LET GO OF HER, SNAPE!" shouted Potter.

"What is going on!" Snape screamed back.

"Hermione, are you okay?"

"I said, let go of her!"

"Not until I get some answers!"

"I warned you, Snape." Harry drew back his wand, and Snape knew what was coming next. In that instant, he let go of Hermione and prepared for the inevitable.

"_Avada Kedavra_!"

"No, Harry!" Hermione shrieked as she threw herself in front of the ray of green light shooting out of his wand.

"Hermione!" Ron jumped as well and took the brunt of the blast. Snape watched it ricochet off the now dead body of the youngest Weasley boy and hit Harry, who also fell down lifeless.

"Ron!" Hermione ran over to the body. "What did you do! Ron, you idiot! _Rennervate_!" she screamed as she cast the spell repeatedly. "_Rennervate_! _Rennervate_! You can't be dead. Come on, Ron! Get up!"

Severus left her crying over the boy. He retrieved his wand before walking over to where Potter lay. He was still breathing, but barely. His eyes were open though and staring at him full of loathing.

"I don't know how you managed to survive your own curse; I don't imagine you were skillful enough to create a Horcrux of your own. I ought to kill you right now. I could, without even casting an Unforgiveable. All I'd need to do is touch you." He knelt down and reached out his hand to the boy's face. Harry didn't even have enough strength to flinch.

"No! Severus, please. Don't!" Hermione cried out to him.

"And why should I listen to you? You tricked me! Deceived me!" He pointed his wand at her while keeping his free hand near Harry.

"Please! He's Lily's son!"

He looked back down at Harry. Lily's green eyes stared back at him and he felt his desire to kill him ebb away. Disgusted, he spat on him. The spittle landed near the corner of his right eye and began to burn him as if acid.

"Harry!" The girl flew over and pushed Snape aside. She went to brush the spit away, but he grabbed her hand again.

"You can't touch him either!" For what seemed the longest time, their hands remained locked together as the two of them stared at each other wordlessly. Later on, Severus would wonder why he had prevented her from touching him in the first place. Finally, Hermione broke the silence.

"Fine, but I need to get him to The Burrow."

"Do whatever you want with him. Whether he lives or dies is of no concern to me anymore."

"But…." And just like that he was gone. "Professor!" she called out into the empty air. She wanted to collapse then; every ounce of her emotion and physical stamina was sapped, but she knew she had to get Harry to help. Although tears were still falling, she didn't bother to wipe them or her nose.

"Harry," she sniffled. "I'm going to have to try and apparate you back with me to The Burrow. I'll…_sniff_…I'll come back for Ron afterwards. Stay with me, Harry. Please, I need you to stay with me now, all right?" Although he still couldn't speak, he seemed to acknowledge what she was saying with the look in his eyes. She grabbed onto the sleeve of his robe and concentrated as hard as she could. In an instant, they were gone, and all that was left on the hill at Godric's Hollow was the tree, the two tombstones, and the still body of Ronald Weasley.

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Author's notes:

Whew! That was a doozy! It took me more than a couple of tries to get everything in there, and hopefully I didn't make any major gaffs in logic. But please, please, _please _let me know if you spot any plot holes. I feel like every time I reread a section of HBP I realize something I had missed before.

This chapter was the reason I wanted to start this story in the first place. After finishing HBP, I needed to convince myself that Snape was still good. There were a few things that just seemed a bit _off_ somehow. Like how Snape paused before giving the Unbreakable Vow and how Dumbledore seemed to know exactly what was going on in that cave. Also, what _were_ Dumbledore and Snape arguing about exactly when Hagrid overheard them?

Sorry if anyone's mad that I didn't give any character death warnings. I never really understood what they were for; I mean, if you know someone's going to die, doesn't that take part of the surprise away?

Anyways, as fun as it was to play in Severus' head, we're back to Hermione's third person POV in the next few chapters.

June W and SnapeSeraphin – I guess now that Ron's out of the picture, you won't have to worry about the HG/RW potential anymore.

Miss Elvira Dark – I don't really know what to say except maybe try refreshing the page next time? I know ffn does that to me as well sometimes. Or you can try reading the reviews; a lot of the recap what's going on pretty well.

Harry Poter – Um…who is J.K. Roling (sic)?

Thanks for all your very nice reviews and encouragement. I just hope this chapter didn't disappoint.


	9. Back to The Burrow

Chapter 8

Hermione and Harry reappeared in front of The Burrow. Leaving him on the ground, she immediately ran to the door. As she approached she heard wailing behind it. She banged on it anyways, yelling "Mr. Weasley! Mrs. Weasley! It's Hermione Granger!"

The door opened, but it was Ginny who appeared.

"Ginny!"

"Hermione, what's happened to…." She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as she saw what lay behind her. Her eyes widened in shock and she screamed, "Harry!" She ran past Hermione and flew to her ex-boyfriend.

"Harry!" she repeated, but there was still no response. She turned back to Hermione in fear. "What's wrong with him, Hermione? What's happened to his face? Where's Ron!"

"I can't explain it right now. Where's your mother and father? We need to get Harry stabilized!" Hermione left the two outside and ran through the open door into the house. The wailing got louder as she got closer to the kitchen. She followed the sound and found Mr. Weasley trying to comfort a bawling Mrs. Weasley.

"Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley! I need your help! Harry's outside, and I think he's dying!" This only increased the sobbing.

"Molly, please! We don't know what's happened yet. The clock may be wrong."

_The clock_. Hermione turned towards it, dreading what she would find. Eight hands still pointed towards "mortal peril". Ron's was the only one that pointed to "dead". It was almost too much for her, the confirmation of Ron's death. In the back of her head she had still held on to the hope that when she returned to Godric's Hollow he would still be alive, but that hope was now considerably diminished.

"Hermione!" She felt Mr. Weasley's hand on her shoulder. "Hermione, what's happened? Where's Ron? What's happened to him?" The human contact broke through her reverie.

"I need you to come outside with me, Mr. Weasley. Please, we need to help Harry." She found she could not bring up the subject of Ron. The two of them left Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen and ran outside. Ginny had gathered Harry onto her lap and was rocking and crying over him.

"It's not supposed to end like this. It's not supposed to end like this—" she kept repeating. Her father stilled her with two hands on her shoulder.

"Ginny, I need you to let go of him," he said in a low, calm voice. Mutely, she nodded and let her father carry him inside the house. Ginny went to follow him, but Hermione stopped her before she crossed the threshold.

"Ginny, I need to go back and get Ron, but Harry—he was hit by his own Killing Curse."

"What!"

"There isn't time for the whole story now. Just tell your father what I told you. Hopefully he'll know what to do." Before she could leave, Ginny grabbed her hand.

"Hermione, is it true? About Ron? Is he really dead?" Hermione couldn't answer her.

"I have to go," she said before choking on a sob. The younger girl let go of her hand and she apparated back to the Hollow.

Just as she feared, Ron was still lying there in the same position she had last seen him in. His eyes were still open and looking heavenward, his mouth agape.

"Oh Ron," she whimpered. She was afraid to touch him; his body would be cold by now, but she knew what she had to do. First she closed his eyes and his mouth, crying the whole while. She kissed him one last time on his forehead and then on his lips. "Goodbye, Ron. You know you were always my hero." She gathered him in her arms and made her second apparition to The Burrow.

This time Fleur and Mrs. Weasley were waiting for her on the doorstep. Mrs. Weasley took one look at her son in Hermione's hands and shrieked.

"NO! Not _him_, not my Ron!" She ran to Hermione and took him off her hands, assuming the same posture Ginny had taken before with Harry. "Nooooo…." she continued to keen. Fleur ran over and tried to comfort her as best she could. Since there was nothing left for Hermione to do, she walked back into the house in a trance. As she walked past the kitchen, Bill called out to her.

"Hermione! You have to tell me what happened! We don't dare do anything without knowing exactly what's wrong with him." He grabbed her and steered her into the kitchen. Mr. Weasley had cleared the kitchen table and laid Harry down on it. He was running his wand over him as if scanning to see where his injuries lied.

"I can't find anything wrong with him!" he exclaimed. "Hermione, what happened?"

"It…it all happened so fast." She slipped into the stool that Bill had guided her to and raised her hand to her head. "I was with Professor Snape, and then Ron and Harry came. Harry…he cast the Disarming spell on him, and then when he wouldn't let go of me, he tried to kill him." By now she was sobbing again and she covered her face with both hands. "Snape let me go, but I jumped in the way and then…then Ron got in front of me. He died saving my life." When it seemed that she was not going to finish her story, Bill turned to his father.

"It sounds a lot like what happened to You-Know-Who when he tried to kill Harry as a baby. But it shouldn't have reflected off of Ron. I don't understand; what kind of magic is this?"

Mr. Weasley wiped his forehead with his hand. "I don't know, Bill…."

Just then the three of them turned to Ginny who had run into the room screaming, "_You_ killed them! You killed my brother, and you've killed Harry!" She was able to throw her hands around Hermione's neck and begin to throttle her before the elder two Weasley men were able to get her off of her.

"Ginny, stop it!" The girl would not stop struggling and eventually Mr. Weasley had to cast a Calming spell on his only daughter, which rendered her unconscious. "Hermione, I'm sorry…."

"No, Mr. Weasley. She's right. I shouldn't be here. It's all my fault this happened. I can't intrude on your hospitality any longer." She got up to leave, looking over at Harry one last time. He was still breathing, but barely. "Is Harry…is he going to be all right?"

"I don't know. I've got him under a Stasis spell, but until we find out what exactly happened and why he's still alive, I'm afraid to do anything that might harm him further." She nodded.

"Will you…will you let me know if anything happens?"

"Where are you going to go?" asked Bill.

"I can't tell you, but I'm going to the only person I know who might be able to help him."

"Hermione, _don't_," warned Bill. "Don't do anything stupid now." Hermione erupted in a half-laugh.

"_Stupid_? All I've done so far _is _stupid things. I don't think I _could_ do anymore stupid things." She left them and walked out the back door, unable to face Mrs. Weasley again.

Before she could apparate again, she needed to do one last thing while she was fairly certain she was still on safe ground. She had never tried to use her Patronus to send a message before, but she knew it was how the members of the Order communicated with each other. Since she didn't currently have access to an owl and was too ashamed to go back in and ask to use Pigwidgeon, it was the only way she knew how to get in touch with anyone at Hogwarts.

Holding the wording of the message she wanted to send firmly in her head, she conjured a Patronus and instructed it to find Headmistress McGonagall. As it whisked away, she was only mildly surprised to find that it was no longer an otter and now resembled a small Jack Russell terrier. She was too exhausted to deal with this latest development though and began to focus on where she needed to go.

In what she hoped would be the last apparition she would need to perform for the day, she disappeared from the Weasley's garden and reappeared instantly many miles away beside a dirty-looking river. She walked through the tall grass and over the bank to find street after street of similar looking brick houses that had seen better days. Undeterred, she made her way into the midst of them, scanning the street signs. Finally, she found the one she was looking for and—taking a deep breath—proceeded down the lane.

She stopped in front of the last house, which was just as shabby and run-down as its brethren. Expecting some kind of trap to spring if she tried to magically open the door and having no other resort, she started to pound on it with both hands.

"Professor! I know you're in there! Open up, sir!" Almost immediately she heard some scuffling behind the door. The scampering footsteps became louder as someone approached the door. At first she was surprised at the easy with which she been able to gain entrance, but that surprise because horror as she realized it was none other than Peter Pettigrew standing in the doorframe and _not _Professor Snape.

"Why hello, little girl," he said with a wicked smile and recognition in his eyes. "How nice of you to drop by." This unexpected encounter was the last straw for Hermione's nerves, and she finally succumbed to all the shock and stress from the horrible morning by fainting. The last thing her mind recorded before her head hit the ground and she fell unconscious was a flash of light coming from behind Wormtail concurrent with the sound of someone shouting.

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Author's notes:

Yes, I have to admit, I'm not much of a fan of Ron's but when I wrote that last scene with Hermione and him, it got to me a little.

Although I can't find anything in the hp-lexicon about a "Stasis spell", it sounds pretty familiar. If I stole it from another author, my apologies and great thanks for thinking of such a great spell.

Thanks to saturngurl123 to her beta-ing and bearing with my impatience.

Arica, Princess of Rivendell – Thanks for leaving more than just your usual "UPDATE!" ;) I'm not sure if Harry will ever believe that Snape is good, but then, you have to wonder, did JKR and Dumbledore intend for him to think that?

The Mad Madame – Yeah, that _was_ a lot of angst to throw out all in on chapter. I have a feeling Severus won't be as forthcoming with his inner emotions in the future.

A great, big thanks to duj and RHrower for pointing out a mistake I had made in the events of the last chapter.

Oh yeah, and extra House points to anyone who can figure out where the "Jack Russell terrier" allusion comes from. :)


	10. A Listed Number

Chapter 9

When Hermione regained consciousness, the first thing she noticed was that she couldn't move. She could still feel her arms and legs, so she was fairly sure she hadn't snapped her neck and paralyzed herself in the process of fainting. The dryness in her throat told her that it had been more than just a few minutes since she had blacked out, but how much longer than that she didn't know. Next, she tried opening her eyes and when that worked, she realized she wasn't in a Full Body Bind either. No, it seemed she had just been immobilized with plain, old rope. Well, maybe magical rope. She didn't have time to examine it to find out though because just then she noticed someone approaching her. The room was too dark and she was still a little too groggy to identify who it was, but as soon as she heard the familiar silky voice her body relaxed.

"Drink this," he said, and she didn't bother to resist. He put a hand under her head and helped her tilt it forward so that she could swallow easier. She was fairly certain she knew what he was feeding her but swallowed it anyways. At least it tasted like water and, if anything, helped her regain her voice.

"Professor —" He dropped her head like a brick, all trace of kindness gone.

"You will remain silent, girl, unless I address you directly. Do you understand me?" The harshness in his voice told her just how much trouble she was still in.

"Yes, sir," she said meekly.

"Good." He pulled up a chair so he could sit beside her. "You will start by telling me how you found me here."

"I looked you up in the telephone book."

"You what?" He knew she wasn't lying, of course, but it didn't stop him from finding what she said just a little incredulous.

"Your father was a Muggle. This house is still under a Muggle deed and your name is in the telephone book. I suppose you never thought about getting your number unlisted."

"Don't —" he barked —"act smart with me, young lady!"

She gulped before nodding her head and repeating, "Yes, sir."

"Why did you come looking for me?"

"I need your help. Harry's dying, and you're —"

"I meant before. At Godric's Hollow. Where did you get this ring?" He held up the Personalized Portkey. "What have you done with Draco?"

"Nothing, sir! He _gave_ me the ring at Bill and Fleur's wedding. Polyjuiced himself as Neville and told me he was worried about you. He wanted me to check in on you." She was glad now that he had given her the Veritaserum; he had no choice but to believe her.

"And why did you choose to come to me in the guise of Lily Potter? How did you even manage to get a strand of her hair?"

"It was all luck, sir. Harry's aunt had given me a locket to give to him. Inside the locket was a lock of her hair. I —" she faltered a bit here, but the potion make her continue — "I wasn't sure where you loyalties lay at the time so I needed to trick you into confiding in someone you could tell the truth to."

"And what made you think I would confide in Lily Potter of all people?"

"I found what she had written in your textbook, sir. I didn't know it was her handwriting until —"

"What textbook?" he interrupted. "What are you talking about?"

"Your old Potions textbook that Harry had all last year."

"Where is it?"

She pointed with her chin towards her feet where her bag was lying. "It's in there, sir." He grabbed it and rifled through it for the book. The care with which he brought it out only reinforced the look of longing in his eyes as he finally beheld it. He reverently opened it to the page that Lily had written on and lightly stroked the parchment with his fingers.

"So you found it," he said softly. "How did you know it was Lily?"

"I had a chance to compare it with another piece of her writing. Sir, can you please untie me now?" she tried after seeing that he had calmed down a bit. He responded by pointing his wand at her and tightening her binds.

"Please don't confuse my sentimentality with softness. Lily Evans was a good friend to me and you used her image today to take advantage of me."

"Potter."

"What did you say?"

"Potter. Her name's Lily Potter. That's what it says on her headstone." She knew she was making him angry, but she couldn't help it; he was brassing her off too. For a second, it seemed as if he was about to hit her and she braced herself for it, but the blow never came. Instead, he took a few moments to collect himself before proceeding with his interrogation.

"And what did you hope to gain from your little foray into espionage?" he asked coldly.

"I wanted to know if it was true, what Draco said about you. That you and Dumbledore had planned his death. That you were still —" Hermione gulped again because now she was starting to wonder if it _was_ in fact, true —"good."

"Good," he echoed, but from his mouth it came as more of an epithet. "And why would _you_ care if I was…_still good_?" Again, when he repeated her words, he made them sound so patronizing.

"Because —" and now she had no doubt as to the identity of the liquid he had fed her before because she never would have said this to him without it — "because _I need you to be_!" She strained against her bonds as she said this, her eyes flashing. "Ever since I encountered _your_ puzzle under the trapdoor I've regarded you with only the highest respect, even though at the time I _still_ believed you were the one trying to steal the Sorcerer's Stone. I understand you, and if it hadn't been for a silly little fib that I told on a Halloween so long ago, I believe I might have ended up like you —"

"You dare compare yourself — "

"YES! I don't care that you're Slytherin and I'm a Gryffindor. Brilliant people can still make absolutely horrible decisions. I believe you made one, but you've redeemed yourself since then — more than redeemed yourself if I had anything to say about it."

"I'm _not_ one of your silly charity cases that you feel you have to champion!" he growled.

"I know that! You're so much more than that! Don't you understand? _You_ are what gives me hope at the end of the day. When I think of all we've lost already and how dark things are going to be before they can possibly get better, I think of _you_ and how _you've_ changed. Of how much you've been willing to sacrifice for us when you don't even like us very much. And _that's_ how I can go to sleep at night. Because I know that there's someone like _you_ out there somewhere, doing what needs to be done when no one else can do it." _There, that should shut him up for a bit_. And it did. His eyes focused on something far away as he digested her words. When he spoke to her again though, it was not with a degree more warmth than before.

"I don't know what you think you know of me, but I can assure you, there are many things that I've done that would cause you to lose rather than gain more sleep."

"I know that Dumbledore's stood up for you time and time again no matter what Harry's accused you of. I know what you told me this morning in Godric's Hollow. And I know what's in my heart." He turned to her with an indiscernible look in his eyes then.

"Your heart has been wrong before." That shut her up. Mercifully, he did not require her to comment, so the two of them remained in silence for a turn. Finally, he spoke again.

"While you were unconscious, I intercepted a message from McGonagall's Patronus. She wanted to inform you that, 'yes, his portrait is still asleep'. May I ask what meaning this has to you?" That he had assumed a more civil tone with her was not lost on Hermione, but she was wise enough not to comment on it either.

"After you had told me about the Phoenix Solution, I remembered something that Harry had said about what happened in the cave which you probably didn't know about. But I wanted to confirm something else with the Headmistress before I brought it up with you."

"Stop speaking in riddles, girl. What are you trying to say?" The urgency in his voice told Hermione he had guessed where she was going with this, but she held her tongue for a moment more to savor the feeling.

"I believe that Dumbledore isn't really dead."

"Explain yourself!" She only smiled in response to the sharpness of his tone.

"'His portrait is still asleep.' Professor, I think you know what that means." She could tell he was struggling with whether or not to believe her.

"What happened in the cave?"

"The two of you _had_ thought of everything. Except for the ends to which a very desperate young man will go to in order to save the life of someone he thinks he has nearly killed."

"Enough, just tell me! What did Harry do?" If she wasn't sure before she was a hundred percent certain now that she had his full attention.

"He gave Dumbledore a sip of water."

"What! How? Albus would have made sure there wasn't any —" Finally realization dawned on Severus. "_The fool_. He gave him the _water from the lake_!"

"It might not have been the smartest thing to do —"

"The 'smartest thing to do'! That wasn't water that he fed him —"

"I know, sir."

"— that was a modified version of the Draught of Living Death!"

"I know, sir," she repeated once again.

"If you know that, then why are you still smiling?"

"Because, sir, I know that means that Dumbledore. Isn't. Dead." She watched him carefully to see how he would react to her pronouncement, expecting him to be subtle as usual. Therefore, she didn't expect the bolt of energy that seemed to charge through his being and change his demeanor completely. For maybe the first time in her life, she saw her former Potions professor smile — a real smile, not a reaction to someone else's embarrassment or in conjunction with causing said embarrassment, but a smile that came from pure happiness.

"He's not dead," he whispered to himself. "He's not dead. _He's not dead!_ Oh dear child, do you know what this means?"

"Yes, but I could better appreciate it if you would untie me," she reminded him. Without even stopping in mid-stride he pointed his wand at her and the ropes vanished while he continued to pace and mutter to himself. She sat up and rubbed her limbs to help them regain circulation faster. A glance at her watch told her it was the evening of the same day. Now that she had a better view of the room, she saw that it was completely lined with books. She was tempted to peruse them while she waited for him to notice her again, but she controlled the urge. There were more important and pressing needs.

"Sir, we need to help Harry."

"Bugger Harry," he said dismissively.

"What?"

"I said —"

"I heard what you said you git!" He had finally stopped pacing and was looking at her again now. She was so furious she marched up to him and confronted him without her wand. "Don't you _dare_ —" she pushed him without effect — "tell me to 'bugger Harry'! He's dying right now because _you_ —" she shoved him again — "were too pigheaded to let him think of you as anything _other_ than an enemy." He caught her arms before she could hit him again.

"Me? You're blaming me for —"

"Yes!" she screamed. Tears were falling from her eyes now as she continued to struggle against his grip. "It's your fault! And mine! And Ron's!" At his name, she went still. "Oh God, _Ron_!" she cried as her knees buckled beneath her. Instead of letting her fall, he did what any other man in his situation would have done and cradled her to his chest. He let her continue to cry while he tried to soothe her by gently stroking her hair.

Finally, Hermione was able to collect herself enough to speak again. "I'm — _hic_ — I'm so sorry, Professor." She braced herself against his shoulders and leaned back away from him. He let go of her but made sure she was stable enough to stand on her own.

"It's all right, Miss Granger." He lowered his eyes to avoid hers. "I…apologize for my insensitivity." Yet another thing she had never seen him to before today. First a smile and now an apology.

"I forgive you," she said before he could take it back. His eyes flashed and they made eye contact briefly before he looked away again. Hermione would have bet that it was the first time he had ever heard those words spoken to him before. He cleared his throat to relieve the awkwardness of the moment.

"Well, it seems we have a more than a few problems to solve. I need to figure out how to wake the Headmaster from his sleep, and you need to find a way to save Harry."

"And we need to let the others know that you're still on our side," she added.

His only response was to smile down at her. _Two smiles in one day; the world was definitely coming to an end soon. _Then something else occurred to her.

"What happened to Wormtail?" He brushed his hand towards one of the walls

"I Stunned him and returned him to his room. I suppose we shall have to find some way to deal with him later. Most likely a memory charm of some sort."

"Wait." It was her turn to smile now. "I think I know exactly what to do with him."

---------------

Author's notes:

Congrats to all those who correctly said that the Jack Russell terrier is Ron's Patronus. Although it's never said in the books, JKR has confirmed that answer in at least one interview. I have to admit I didn't know what a crup was until you guys mentioned it. :)

duj – Chapter 33, pg. 653 of the American paperback version, Voldemort speaking: "My curse was deflected by the woman's foolish sacrifice, and it rebounded upon myself." Maybe the question you meant to ask was why did Voldemort become bodiless while Harry (at least for the time being) still has his?

June W – It probably will be painful to her to have to summon it; perhaps as painful as it was when Tonks' Patronus became a wolf? Who knows, maybe it'll change again….

AnnabelleElizabeth – Ooh, I think you're referring to "What E'er Therein is Promised" by deeble? That probably _is_ where I got that spell from. Thankfully, since it's not canon, I can play around with it a little. :)

Original Date and ms.understood – Thanks for catching that. I've revised the previous chapter already. Please let me know if you ever catch anything else.


	11. Snow White

Chapter 10

The two of them looked down at the Stunned body of Peter Pettigrew.

"It's a bit gruesome, don't you think?" he inquired of her plan. She shrugged in response.

"He owes Harry a Life Debt," she said without feeling.

"I see," he said, so grimly that it startled her. Hermione suddenly realized that Snape owed her one as well now, and she quickly tried to correct his assumption.

"No! I didn't mean —" she exclaimed, horrified by what he might think of her.

"Hush, child. I know. I just wanted you to consider the full consequences of what you mean to do." He watched her take a deep breath and exhale slowly.

"Yes. It'll be one less thing for Harry to worry about after we heal him."

"Very well then." She raised her wand, but before she could do anything, Snape grabbed the hand holding it.

"Let me do it." She turned to face him, angry that he was stealing this from her.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Because, it's an _Unforgivable_ and aptly named. You'll never forgive yourself for doing it." Before she could protest further, Snape drew out his wand and Ennervated Wormtail.

"Wha—" Snape immediately cast a second spell on him.

"_Imperio_!" In mid-sentence, the man shrunk in size and turned into a rat. Hermione and Snape watched him scamper under the door and out of the room.

"Do you really think it'll work?" He raised one eyebrow at her.

"Are you really doubting my abilities as a wizard?"

"No, I —" She stopped when she realized he was teasing her. "I just hope I never have to see him again."

"Yes, let us hope for all our sakes that _that_ is the last we shall ever see of Mr. Pettigrew." He opened the door and motioned for her to exit. They walked down the stairs and back into the foyer.

"What now?" she said, turning around to face him.

"Now, we eat." Hermione would have protested, except just then her stomach growled in response to her not having fed it anything since the night before.

"Fine." He conjured a small, round wooden table and two chairs, instructed her to sit in one of them, and then disappeared behind yet another hidden door. When it took longer than a minute for him to return, she couldn't control herself any longer and went to inspect the bookshelves. Her fingers slipped along the spines as she read the titles. There were books here that she was already familiar with but some that she had never heard of. What really surprised her, however, was finding a copy of _An Essential Collection of Original Fairy Tales_ by A. Dumbledore stuck between two massive tomes of potions. She carefully slid the slim, blue hardbound book out and opened it. There was an inscription inside the front cover that read:

To my dear Severus,

May you one day find your happy ending.

Signed,

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

"The Headmaster thought it was important"— Hermione quickly shut the book in surprise at being caught — "that the old tales were not forgotten and reduced to the simple, sweet mockeries that they are today." He was carrying a tray of food and set it down on the table.

"I…I didn't mean to —" started Hermione, unsure of whether or not she was in trouble for not having remained seated and looking at his library without permission.

"It's all right. I should have known better than to expect the great Hermione Granger to be able to sit in a room full of books without opening one." She blushed then, not knowing whether it was because of her reputation or hearing him say her full name for the first time. "Come, sit. And yes, you may bring the book with you."

He had prepared chicken and potatoes with gravy and some steamed broccoli on the side. It looked and smelled delicious. An empty glass goblet sat beside each of their plates. When she looked up at him inquiringly, he answered her unvoiced question.

"I think we would both prefer to drink untainted water with our dinners, don't you?" It took her a second to understand what he meant. She nodded. He raised his wand and said, "_Aguamenti_!" while pointing to each of the goblets. After they were filled with water, he raised his to her.

"To new beginnings," he offered.

"To new beginnings," she echoed. She did not wait long after taking a sip before tucking in. The smells emanating from the dish reminded her of just how ravenous she was. She was a few bites in before she realized that he was staring at her.

"What?" she said in between bites.

"It's just that…never mind." He shook his head.

"What?" she demanded.

"You remind me of Mr. Weasley when you eat like that." _Ron_. She dropped her utensils. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have reminded you —"

"No, it's okay." She took a deep breath. "It will get easier, right?"

"Yes," he lied. She knew he was lying because of the way he hesitated before answering her, but she accepted his answer anyways. Changing the topic so that they wouldn't dwell on the previous one any longer, she asked, "So what's our next step?"

"'Our'?"

"Yes, 'our'." We need to find —"

"There is no 'we', Miss Granger."

"What do you —"

"_I_ shall go revive Albus, and then he and I will figure out a way to restore Harry. You will go back home and stay there until this is all over."

"You can't possibly mean —"

"This is no longer fun and games, young lady; this is not another adventure with Harry and Ron. There are lives at stake here, girl!" He pounded on the table to emphasize his meaning.

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?" She pushed her chair away from the table and stood up. _Don't you_ dare _let him see you cry again_. "Don't you think I know that what happened today is because of me! You can't expect me to just sit back and watch you fix everything for me. You need me! Without me, you wouldn't have known about Dumbledore; you wouldn't have —"

"SIT DOWN!" Years of listening to his instructions as a student made her respond automatically to his order. "I _don't_ want you" — he said in a deadly serious voice — "becoming like me. Do you understand?" She could only blink in response. "I still blame myself for Lily's death. But back then, when she first died, it was _all_ that drove me, this need for atonement, for reparation. In penance, I became a two-edged fine blade, a perfectly honed weapon for Dumbledore to use but that none other could handle." He splayed his hands out to either side of him on the table. "I became the man I am today, Hermione, and I will not have the same happen to you." She let his words die down into a silence that lasted a few moments.

"No," she said as she leaned forward and grasped one of his hands. "No, you _won't_ let that happen to me because you'll be with me. Just like before, up in the room with Wormtail. But you _do_ need me, just as I need you now." She felt his hand tighten in response. "We're in this together, Severus," she finished.

"And I suppose if I refused, you would hex my balls off right now?" To her credit, she didn't flinch when he correctly surmised that she was pointing her wand under the table at that exact location.

"Yes," she said sweetly.

"Very well then. I see I have no choice in the matter."

"Don't think I don't know that you're trying to placate me now in hopes of catching me later and shipping me home."

"No, Miss Granger, I don't believe I shall ever underestimate you again."

"'Hermione'."

"Excuse me?"

"You called me 'Hermione' before. I'd prefer it if you would call me that from now on."

"As you wish —" he said with a wry smile — "Hermione." He took another sip of water. She noticed that he didn't reciprocate and ask her to call him Severus, but she supposed that was too much to ask for at the moment. At some point earlier in the day, though, he had ceased being Snape to her and would forever be Severus. And _he_ would just have to deal with _that_.

"So how do you propose we"— she made sure to emphasize the word, — "wake Dumbledore?"

"Well, I suppose since you are so determined to be part of this, you may assist me in my research after dinner."

What seemed like hours later, and after many inches had been added to the table so as to provide space for the multitude of books now lying upon it, Hermione felt no closer to solving the problem than before.

"There's no mention of it in here either!" She closed the book a tad more energetically than she normally would have due to her frustration. He had assigned her the task of looking up references to the modified Draught of the Living Dead, the one that Voldemort had used to keep the Inferi asleep until either someone tried to magically summon the item they were to guard or touch the liquid itself. She slumped back into her chair. "He must have made it up," she said in defeat.

He barely looked up from the book he was reading. "Yes, I believe he did," he said nonchalantly.

"You knew? Than why did you make me waste the last —" she cut herself off.

"Yes?"

"You're just trying to keep me busy. What are you reading?"

"Nothing a young impressionable mind such as yours should be looking at." When she reached over to try and grab it, he only tapped her fingers with his wand. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He let the threat stand unfinished, knowing that she could fill in the blanks on her own.

"Hmph." She settled back into her seat with her arms crossed and glared at him. After a few moments of silence, she ventured, "You're not finding anything useful either, are you?"

"I might, if you would cease your useless prattling," was his reply. But the edge in his voice bespoke the frustration that he was feeling as well.

Feeling useless, Hermione decided to start stacking up and putting away the books that had made their way from the shelves onto the table. As she picked up the largest of them, she found the small book of fairy tales that she had brought over before dinner. Curious about its contents, she left the tall stack of potions books alone and curled into as comfortable a position as she could muster in the wooden chair. After Hermione had readjusted several times, the chair suddenly transfigured into a much cozier armchair. Hermione looked up in surprise at Severus, who was still reading his book intently but with a smirk on his face now. "Show off," she muttered before settling in quite comfortably.

The first story in the book was the tale of Snow White. She read through it quickly, and it seemed fairly similar to the Disney version that she had seen as a child with her father except for the very end. She was used to the prince kissing Snow White awake, but in this version, the princess awoke only after the piece of poisoned apple fell out of her mouth when the prince's servants stumbled while carrying the glass coffin she was sleeping in. An idea started to form in her mind. This time, she closed the book with a bang because she was excited and not out of frustration.

"Severus!" she exclaimed, jumping out of the chair. "I've got it!" He looked up at her but didn't seem very happy that she had broken his concentration once again. That didn't stop her from continuing though. "We don't need to find another potion to counter the effects of this one, we just need to draw it out of him!" Her comment had piqued his interest now and he looked up at her after putting a marker into his book and closing it.

"And how do you propose to accomplish that?"

"Like this!" She smiled and pointed her wand at the goblet in front of her. "_Accio water_!" The water from the cup sailed straight to her, and it was a testament to how tired she was that she didn't even blink when it splashed all over her.

Severus took one look at her — still holding with her wand out and dripping wet with eyes and mouth agog — and laughed. Great big guffaws erupted from his throat, and he was almost in tears by the time he stopped.

"I'm so glad you can laugh at my expense," she said sourly, which only made him laugh all over again. In the end, he had to clear his throat a few times before he could speak.

"I'm — _ahem_ — very sorry you failed to — _ahem_ — see the humor in your situation, but even you have to admit, seeing the great Hermione Granger felled by her own spell is quite a sight to behold." He reached out to hand her his napkin. She took it from him crisply and used it to try and pat herself dry. He continued to look at her until her frown broke.

'Well, yes, I suppose so," she said stiffly, but what she was really thinking was, _That's_ twice _he's referred to me as 'the great Hermione Granger"! Was that_ really _how he thought of her?_

"I don't suppose you've brought a change of clothing with you?"

"No, I'm afraid I didn't think I would be needing one."

"In that case —" he said and pointed his wand at her. Instantly, her clothes became as warm and dry as if they had just come out of a dryer.

"Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome." What could have remained as a warm, but slightly awkward moment was shattered when Severus suddenly tensed, as if hearing something Hermione could not. Gone was the relaxed, almost pleasant expression he had had on his face, to be replaced by one she was much more familiar with.

"Come here!" he ordered, as he stood up so swiftly that his chair fell behind him. Hermione was completely confused and starting to get frightened. When she did not immediately obey, he swooped down on her and pulled her to him, enveloping her with his arms. "Hold on to me," he whispered harshly to her.

"What's —" But she did not get to finish her sentence as she suddenly heard "_Reducto_!" being shouted from outside. Whether or not they were successful in blasting the door open, Hermione did not find out as Severus Disapparated the two of them away at that very moment.

------------

Author's notes:

Sigh, I do so love writing Hermione and Severus moments. I had actually written another ending to this chapter, but after thinking about what comes next I realized it wouldn't work. I really liked it, though, so I'm posting it on my LJ as a deleted scene. The link should be on my profile page and it'll be the August 7, 2005 entry. ETA: It's also up as Appendix I now, after the Epilogue.

I realize that Snape may be getting a bit OOC here, but I'm thinking this is a Severus Snape none of us have ever seen in canon, which is mostly through Harry's eyes. Not only is he not teaching any dunderheads at the moment or having to deal with Potter, but he's also just heard some of the best news of his life. Hope does wonderful things to people…. :)

Thank you, saturngurl123, for your continued support and beta-ing.

RHrower and duj – Oh crap. I finally realize what you're saying. For some reason I had it in my head that it was the first curse that Voldemort cast at Harry that rebounded off of Lily and hit him. I forgot that she just died, and it wasn't until he cast the curse again at Harry that it rebounded. I thought about going back and changing some stuff around, but it just got too complicated with too many people jumping into each others' ways (silly Gryffindor martyrs). So I'm just going to leave chapter 7 as it is for now and change Bill's commentary about it a bit in chapter 8. You'll get an explanation for everything soon…. My eternal thanks for picking up that plot hole.

June W – Good guess, but no. You're pretty close, though. ;)

Arime Setta – Hermione didn't become friends with Harry and Ron until after the troll incident on Halloween their first year. Instead of telling the teachers that she was in the bathroom because Harry and Ron had been making fun of her, she lied and told them that she was there because she thought she could deal with it on her own.

Lastly, if anyone can come up with a better title for the book that Dumbledore wrote or perhaps even a pen name, please chime in!


	12. Hogwarts Revisited

Chapter 11

While Hermione had never been the riding partner in Side-Along Apparition before and normally liked to catalog her reactions to new experiences, being pressed against the body of Severus Snape did not prove to be the best baseline reference. In fact, she was finding that the latter was turning out to be far more interesting than to her scientific mind than the former. Since she had been unprepared for what he had meant to do, her hands had gone up protectively and were now in contact with his upper chest. Even through the thick layers of fabric she could tell that this was a very well defined upper chest. _It was different from how Ron had felt —_, and with that thought her mind froze and her body stiffened. _What was she doing comparing_ Professor Snape _with_ Ron?

_Oh, it's_ Professor Snape _now, isn't it? What happened to_ Severus?

_This is_ Professor Snape _we're talking about here! The greasy git!___

_Didn't seem so greasy just now, did he?_

A cough that she heard from above but felt under her hands as well gained her attention.

"You can let go now; we're in no danger anymore." Hermione realized that he had long ago removed his arms from around her, which left her leaning up against him for no other reason than to continue touching him. She was sure her cheeks and ears were burning red when she stepped away.

"I'm sorry, sir," she mumbled, unable to meet him in the eyes, which meant she missed _his_ blush.

"Never mind that now," he said in a false gruff tone. Realizing what he was doing, he conceded, "I apologize for the manner in which we had to leave. Someone had just broken my wards, and I needed to get us out of there as soon as possible."

"I understand." Hermione looked her new surroundings. They were indoors, and though it was dark and she had only been in here once before, she immediately knew where they were. "The Shrieking Shack."

"Yes. It's a very lucky thing that Draco never found out about this passage onto Hogwarts grounds." It was brilliant; Hermione _had_ wondered how they were going to enter Hogwarts, especially with Severus (_oh, it's back to Severus again?_) being on the most wanted list. Speaking of which…

"Those were Aurors back there, weren't they?"

"I can't be certain, but there's a good possibility that they were." He reached for a lantern on the ground that had fallen on its side. Hermione was too busy pondering the ramifications of what had happened at Spinner's End to question why he was lighting the lantern with a match instead of magic.

"But why did they come then? Surely if they knew where you lived —" Hermione brought her hand to her mouth as she gasped. "They followed me."

"I highly doubt that. As you pointed out, if they had followed you, I'm sure they would have interrupted us well before dinner instead of letting us enjoy a warm meal." He started towards the tunnel, and she followed him.

"Then how…?"

"Who else knew you were coming to me?"

"No one! Bill asked, but I didn't tell him."

"Well then, perhaps he or another one of the Weasley clan decided that the best way to find me was to find you."

"But you said —"

"I said you weren't followed, yes. I believe it was your spell that triggered it."

"My…spell?"

"It was my mistake. I had only guarded the house to cover any magic done by myself or Wormtail. I had not thought to include you in that ward. I had not" — he paused here, but whether or not it was due to the exertion of moving a large piece of debris that was blocking their way she could not tell — "intended on having you stay for dinner either."

"I…I'm —" Her apology was cut off with a sudden revelation. "Oh Severus, your house! Those books!" He turned around to find her looking at him in horror. A trace of amusement appeared on his face.

"The books are safe; I've warded them as well. I thank you for your concern over my library, however." Hermione could hear the not unkind mocking in his voice and chose not to respond. They made their way through the rest of the tunnel in silence and without further incident except in one case when she had tripped over something and almost fallen. He had heard her yelp and turned around just in time to catch her in his arms.

"Careful, Miss Granger." Looking up into his dark, inscrutable eyes, _both_ her inner voices told her not retort back, "It's Hermione." Instead she merely answered, "Thank you," and dropped her hands from his as soon as she was able to. _There is more than one type of danger you are dealing with here._

As they neared the end of the tunnel, Hermione paused. "Sir, how are we going to deal with the Whomping Willow? If we can't use magic…"

"Ah, but now we are on Hogwarts grounds, aren't we?" He levitated a small pebble and used it to press the knob that stopped the tree from thrashing around. Before leaving the cover of the tunnel, he blew out the lantern. She peered outside. The moon was bright tonight, and she had her doubts about crossing the great expanse of lawn that separated them from where Dumbledore lay without being spotted. _If only she had learned the Disillusionment Charm._ While she was certain he knew it, it was the type of spell you could only cast on another and not on oneself. As if reading her mind, he reached into his robes and brought out two sealed vials.

"An Invisibility Potion and its antidote. My own creation," he added with a certain amount of pride. "Take my hand," he said, thrusting it out to her. "I only have one vial of each, and the potion is permanent. It would not be good to become separated." She nodded and took his hand. His grip was firm and gave her confidence. He uncorked the first vial and drank half of it. She watched him disappear in front of her eyes. "Here," he said, and she felt him press the rest of the potion into her hand. She tilted her head back and drank the rest. It was tasteless but cold. The chill settled into her stomach and into her limbs. She looked down at herself, but all she could see was the ground beneath where she knew her feet were. It was a little disorienting and much different from being under the Invisibility Cloak, she realized.

When several seconds became even longer and still he had not moved or said anything, she voiced with trepidation, "Sir?"

"You'll have to lead the way."

"I —" Then she realized he didn't know where Dumbledore's tomb lay. "Yes, sir." She squeezed his hand to lend him some support. "Let's go."

She set a hurried pace towards the lake but knew he would have run faster if he could. As they passed the castle, Hermione looked up to see if she could see anyone. None of the windows were lit, but that didn't mean there weren't any eyes looking out of them. She trusted Snape's potion though and told herself not to worry. Hagrid's hut was also dark, but as they approached it, she could hear growling coming from inside. _Fang!_

"Severus, hurry! Fang can still smell us!" she whispered. Indeed, the growling had become barking and the light inside the hut had turned on.

"What's the matter now, Fang? Do yeh hear summat outside?" came the familiar voice of Hagrid. Snape and Hermione ran as fast but as noiselessly as they could away from the opening door. "Aw, there's nothin' out there, Fang. Come inside and hush up now."

They ran until they reached the white tomb. Even without the moonlight it seemed to glow. The two of them stood in front of it, hands still clasped, as they regained their breath. Certain that they were out of sight from prying eyes now, Snape popped open the second vial and took a sip. He held the rest out for Hermione, who finished the dose. Now that there was no reason to stay connected, both seemed a bit reluctant to break contact. Finally, Snape released his hand from hers.

"Time to see if your idea will work," he said pointing his wand at the tomb. "_Mobilipetrus!_" The top of the tomb started to slowly slide away and he guided it to land softly on the side. Hermione found herself unable to step closer and look inside. _What if it didn't work?_ She wasn't used to facing this kind of thing without a plethora of research and preparation behind her.

Snape noticed her hesitation. He faced her and put both his hands on her shoulders. When she still would not look up at him, he brought a hand to her chin and tilted it up. "It's okay, Hermione. If it doesn't work, we'll try something else." His eyes, instead of being their usual cold and glittery were as gentle as she had ever seen them. They infused her with strength. She nodded and he let go of her. She raised her wand towards the tomb and chanted, "_Accio Draught!_"

With what sounded like a cough, a few drops of liquid came flying out towards her.

"Cover your mouth!" Severus ordered. She did as he said, and the liquid fell harmlessly against her sleeve. And then they waited with their breaths held for a sign.

It came. There was a cough, and then another cough. Both professor and pupil ran up to the tomb.

"Severus…" The voice was weak, but it didn't matter. _Dumbledore was awake!_

"Sir, Albus!" Severus reached in to help the older man up. "Oh thank God," he said, clasping him in an embrace. "I was so scared…so certain I had failed!" Dumbledore coughed again.

"Failed? What are you talking about?" He seemed to notice Hermione for the first time. "Miss Granger? What are you doing here?" Before she could say anything, Severus answered for her.

"It didn't go as planned, sir. Potter, he must have gotten some of the Draught from the lake into you while you were still in the cave."

"Yes, I do seem to remember —"

"It prevented you from coming back when you should have —"

"What's this? What day is it? How long have I been dead?"

"Sleeping, sir, you've been sleeping," provided Hermione. "And it's been over a week."

"Oh, in that case, I'm sorry I missed Bill and Fleur's wedding." He seemed to have regained more of his strength then and stood up on his own. "Was it very beautiful?"

"Sir, I don't think you understand. A lot more has happened." She paused then, and Snape finished for her.

"Ronald Weasley is dead, sir, and Potter. He's —"

"Dying."

"What?" Dumbledore roared, but the effect was lost as he stumbled and lost his balance. Severus cushioned his fall by catching him.

"Sir, we should get you to the Infirmary. There's no telling what damage has been done —"

"I'm fine!" he said, but ended the exclamation with a few more coughs.

"No, you're not, sir," added Hermione, "and I think you should do as Professor Snape says."

"Fine, fine," he said, as they both helped him stand up. "I never thought it would take my death for a Gryffindor and a Slytherin to work together." They each put one of his arms over their shoulders and all three walked back to the school together. It made for a lopsided trio, what with Hermione being at last half a foot shorter than the other two men, but neither of them seemed inclined to exclude her from the huddle.

"Now tell me what has transpired since I've been…sleeping."

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Author's notes:

At first I had added the next section to the end of this chapter, but after some debate, I've decided to make that the epilogue and make the following chapter the start of the sequel to this story. It just makes a little more sense to me that way.

Anyone interested in a very silly and possibly offensive (in that it's PG-13) 100 word outtake scene is welcome to find it on my LJ. Link is on my profile page; you'll be wanting the August 8, 2005 entry. ETA: It's now also found in Appendix II of this story.

Arica, Princess of Rivendell – OKAY, YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANTED.

June W – Nope, you'll find out what they plans they made for Wormtail in following chapters.

Lilac Cherry Blossoms – I'm not sure; I hadn't really counted on it….


	13. Epilogue

Epilogue

The next morning, a Patronus was sent from Headmistress McGonagall to the Burrow requesting that Harry Potter be brought to the Hogwarts Infirmary accompanied by Ginevra Weasley alone. The Floo network would be opened temporarily between the two fireplaces for just this function. The strangeness of the request did not go unnoticed by the family, but they abided by it. There was still too much tragedy in the house, and to be able to hand off Harry to someone they trusted and probably far more qualified was an added grace.

Thus, at a quarter to noon, Ginny was standing in front of her fireplace with Harry's body floating by her side. She looked back at her family one last time before throwing the Floo powder into the fire and pronouncing, "Hogwarts Infirmary" in a loud and clear voice. Using _Mobilicorpus_, she guided Harry through the fireplace.

Professor McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey were waiting on the other side.

"Hello, Miss Weasley. Thank you for bringing Mr. Potter with you," the once again Deputy Headmistress said in her stern, crisp voice. "You may lay him down on the bed over there." Ginny did as she was instructed.

"Professor McGonagall, do you know what happened to Harry? Is there a way to save him?" she pleaded.

"I believe I can answer that," came a familiar voice from the shadows. In her excitement, she did not notice the other two women slip away.

"Dumbledore!" She ran over and hugged him. "You're alive, sir! But how — we all thought Snape had killed you!"

"Yes, I believe that nasty rumor has been making its rounds. But as you can see, I'm still very much alive, although perhaps not in the best of health."

"Oh, sir!" She started crying in relief.

"My dear, please don't shed any tears over me."

"It's not — _sniff_ — it's not you. I mean — _sniff_ — I'm happy to see you, but, oh, with everything that's happened …"

"Yes, yes. I'm afraid much tragedy has happened in my absence."

"My brother — _sniff_ — and _Harry_ — _sniff_ —"

"Yes, I've been meaning to have a word with the two of you about that."

"Sir?" Ginny wiped her eyes and looked up. He patted her on the shoulders and led her to the bedside. Harry looked much as he did when Hermione had last left him. While conscious, he was still paralyzed. A new, pitted scar graced the skin above the outside corner of his right eye. There were tears in his eyes, but this had to do more with the man approaching him than with his own condition.

"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry for the pain that I had to put you through," said Dumbledore, resting his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Perhaps I charged you with too much, gave you more than you could handle."

"Sir, what are you talking about?" asked a puzzled Ginny. Dumbledore sighed and said his next words in a very tired voice.

"How many times have I told you, Harry, that Severus Snape is to be trusted? I realize I forced you to watch him kill me, but surely you could have seen through the action and known that he was still my man through and through." That he repeated Harry's own words regarding _his_ loyalty to Dumbledore was not lost on him. Ginny watched his eyes fill with shame.

"I fear now that because of your stubborn hatred of one of your allies in the Order, your best friend is dead, by your own curse. And you've been left in this state." The Headmaster closed his eyes. "No, this is _not_ how I had wanted things to happen."

"But sir, can you still heal him?" Ginny insisted. He turned his blue eyes to her then and as they bored down into her, Ginny felt the full power behind those eyes for the first time.

"And you, Miss Weasley. Am I right in assuming that it was _you_ who communicated with your brother in the Ministry and called the Aurors down on Miss Granger and Professor Snape?" At first she was speechless, but then a hail of reasons tumbled out of her mouth.

"She just disappeared! Ron was dead, and Harry was like this, and she just ran away saying she had protected Snape! I didn't know what else to do —"

"You could have trusted me too," said Hermione, stepping out of the same shadows that Dumbledore had previously emerged from.

"Hermione! But how —"

"Fortunately, I was quickly enough to prevent our capture," said another voice. Ginny and Harry both watched in horror as the last person stepped out of the darkness and into view.

"Snape!" exclaimed Ginny, as would have Harry, if only he had been able to speak. Instead, his blood pressure soared and he started to hyperventilate. Since all eyes except hers were focused on the Potions Master, Hermione noticed Harry's condition first.

"Harry!" she said, running over to him. "Harry, it's all right. Snape's on our side. Please, you have to try to calm down." Dumbledore waved his wand over Harry and blue sparks rained down over him. Instantly, Harry's body relaxed.

"What is going on?" asked an increasingly confused Ginny.

"If you'll be so kind as to take a seat," — a chair popped into existence behind her — "I'm sure we can fill the two of you in." She did just as he asked her to, and then Hermione, Severus, and Dumbledore explained what had happened, beginning with the Unbreakable Vow. No one noticed, of course, when both Hermione and Snape left out the bits and parts that had to do with Lily. It started when Hermione failed to mention her discovery in his textbook, and by the brief exchange of looks that took place between her and Severus then, she knew that he would keep the secret safe as well.

Their storytelling was only interrupted once, when they shared where they had sent Wormtail off to.

"Ugh, that's gross, Hermione," was Ginny's response, accompanied with a revolted look. Severus' timely sneer, however, prevented her from any further comments. When they had finally caught the other two up to the present, it was Dumbledore's turn to speak.

"Harry, I trust the life of one friend was enough to teach you the importance of believing in me?" Harry closed and opened his eyelids in a very deliberate gesture.

"And Miss Weasley, may I assume the same for you as well?" She nodded.

"Yes, sir." Dumbledore clapped his hands together.

"Very well. Then I think we may be able to have ourselves a happy ending here."

"Sir?"

"As you well know, when Harry's mother died trying to save her son's life, her sacrificial love gave Harry a magical protection that thwarted Voldemort's plan to kill him, even almost killing _him_ in the process. What we have here is a similar, but altogether different story." He paused for dramatic effect. "Ronald Weasley died to save the life of one he loved." Both women in the room tried to hold their tears back. "However, he also loved Harry, and because of that, his act of love transformed and reflected the spell back towards Harry so that he could do no more harm. It was his last gift to you, preventing you from doing something else you would regret forever." It proved to be a futile battle for the two ladies, and the crying began.

"So then…how do we…?"

"Love was the key that locked Harry into this condition, and I believe it is the same key that will unlock it." Severus nearly choked at Albus' saccharine explanation, but years of self-control allowed him to hide his reaction.

"Sir, I still don't understand."

"Kiss him, you blithering idiot!" There was only so much discipline one could have.

"Now, Severus —" Dumbledore turned to address the surly professor, but at that same moment Ginny swooped down to plant one on Harry's lips. On contact, a crackle of golden energy could be seen and heard spreading over the boy's body. With a loud _crack_ the curse was lifted.

"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed. He smiled weakly in response.

"I love you too, Ginny." Her sobs only grew louder as she smothered him in her embrace. He brought a hand up to awkwardly pat her shoulder.

Hermione was so ecstatic that it had worked that she turned around and hugged the body closest to her, that being the one belonging to her former Potions professor. He stiffened at first, but eventually relaxed in her arms.

"You did well," he confessed as he patted her head.

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Author's notes:

Yes, that was a very cheap and cheesy ending, but that's because I needed to resolve the whole Harry thing before moving on to more HG/SS! For those interested in that, please stick around for the sequel, "There Must Be More", where we also find out what happened to Wormtail.

And because I love you all so very much, I leave you with a preview:

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The funeral for Ronald Weasley was held near the site of Dumbledore's a few days after Harry had been revived. The crowd that had gathered was small; they had decided that too many questions would be raised about Harry's still-weakened condition and Hermione's presence there. Plus, this way Dumbledore — whose resurrection they were keeping a secret for the time being — and Snape — whose loyalties were also being kept secret — could still attend. Not that he particularly wanted to.

"He saved your life!" shouted Hermione from his doorway.

"No, he saved _yours_. I'm sure he would have stood there and applauded if you hadn't jumped in the way."

"I can't believe you're not going to go." She stamped her foot.

"_I_ believe I have already suffered enough because of the Weasley family."

"It's a funeral, for God's sake!"

"I don't understand why you're insisting I attend."

"_Because_, I'd want you at mine!" And with that, she slammed the door and stormed away for the third time in as many days. Severus sighed. These past few days had been…confusing, at best for him.


	14. Appendix I

Appendix I

As an introduction, there were a few "deleted scenes" and "outtakes" from "What is Left When All is Said and Done" that I had up on my LJ, but have decided to make available here. Consider it the extra stuff that comes out on a DVD that you didn't see in the theatrical version of a film. I think almost all of it is un-beta'd by the way.

For those who haven't found the sequel yet, it's out and complete. Sort of. You'll see. To find it (since ffn doesn't do urls well) go to my profile page and look for "There Must Be More".

And without further ado, a deleted scene from chapter 10:

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Author's commentary: Sad. I had written this great fluffy (but pre-romantic) scene between Hermione and Snape, but I think I'm going to have to scrap it. Anyways, didn't want it to go completely to waste, so here it is (starts immediately after he dries her off towards the end of the chapter):

"So do you think it will work?"

"Your idea? Perhaps, but we won't be finding out until tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? What about tonight?" And suddenly she felt completely woozy, as if someone had slipped her a sleeping drug. She could barely keep her eyes open and her head rolled to the side. Severus stood up and approached her.

"Finally. You have a very slow metabolism, you know."

"That's not a very nice thing to say," she mumbled. He only grunted in response as he lifted her up from the armchair. "How did you —" she started to ask, but then answered her own question. "The food. Oh, why didn't I —"

"Shhh," he said over her as he carried her up a set of stairs. "Go to sleep; it's been a long day for the both of us. We'll find Albus in the morning."

"And you promise you won't go without me?" she asked frantically.

"Yes, I promise." He laid her down on a bed and stood back up.

"Severus?" Her hand reached out to grab his.

"Yes, Hermione?"

"Don't leave me yet."

"I won't." He pulled over an armchair with his free hand and sat down in it.

"Tell me," she commanded even in her half-conscious state. "Tell me why you tried to deny that you were good."

It was a few moments before Severus answered very softly, "Because I could not bear another Lily." He was almost sure that she was asleep before he had said it, but he proved to be wrong as she turned in bed and mumbled something akin to, "Silly old man." He grinned to himself in spite of everything.

"Good night, Hermione." He let go of her hand and stood up.

"Severus?"

"What now?"

"Do you really think Dumbledore will know how to save Harry?" He found he couldn't answer her without lying, and was very grateful when he finally heard her breathing regularly and knew that she had fallen asleep.

"I hope so, child. I hope so," he said as he turned and closed the door behind him.


	15. Appendix II

Appendix II

Author's notes:

Sometimes my mind goes off in naughty directions. Not smut, but probably as close to it as I'll come. Here's a 100-word outtake from Chapter 11 ("Hogwarts Revisited). And by outtake, I mean a comedic OOC scene. Starts immediately after Hermione summons the draught.

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The nefarious potion hit her sleeve and began absorbing quickly through the material.

"Take it off!" he barked.

Trembling, Hermione hastened to obey his orders. When her shaking fingers proved to be too slow, he growled and stepped forward, ripping the shirt open and sending buttons flying. She looked up at him, now clad above the waist in only her bra. She was scared, and it showed as her young bosoms heaved with each quickened breath, straining against the delicate white lace.

Severus looked down, pleased with what he saw.

"Better," he remarked and turned back to the white tomb.


End file.
